The Black Dragon
by Echosight
Summary: All is not... While Aang is trying to save the world, another journey is going on. Four young people, from the fire nation, are learning what the people truly think about them. What they learn will change the world forever. ...As it seems... R and R!
1. Dancers and Servants

Chapter one

Chapter one

A/n: This is my first fanfic, and I'm not the most stellar writer on the planet. If you want to see stellar writing, check out Stormbenders by Fandomme and Zutata by pinprickofhope.

I own avatar and ALL OF IT'S COMPONANTS!! (not really. Wish I did, though…)

However, I do own all original characters. FEAR ME.

_Time and time again, life turns on us. Sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse… But whatever happens to US alone, there is a bigger picture, affected by all around us. There are things that affect our situations that you wouldn't know about. Things that affect us, all the same. Remember, nothing is as it seems… _

"Did NOT!"

"Did TOO!"

"Did nooot."

"Did tooooo."

The first speaker, a young girl with startling blonde hair, poked her finger into her opponent's chest, wincing slightly as she did so.

"Prove it," she said, her unfathomable eyes daring.

The boy let a smirk surface as he pulled a charred black cloak from behind him. "Proven," said the boy infuriatingly.

The girl's eyes widened for a split second before she controlled her expression into one of doubtful speculation. "That isn't mine," she said, looking innocently confused.

He pulled a paper out of the pocket with her name signed in a flourish. "It isn't?" he asked mockingly.

The girl paled. "How… why," she stuttered.

The boy sighed. "You were practicing firebending by yourself, correct? Without any guidance or permission?"

The girl pressed her lips into a thin line, not answering, though her silence was as good as a confession.

"Ah," the boy answered, "So you need a teacher, correct?"

Pure confusion washed over the girl's face, slowly fading into hope. "You would?" she asked eagerly, cutting to the chase, as usual.

The young man smirked. "I suppose… I mean, how could I turn you in? You know worse things about me… and you would most likely kill yourself. I mean, look at your hands!" he said, pointing at her burned fingers. "You did not burn them on a torch, Akari." He sighed dramatically. "Tomorrow night, thirty minutes after midnight, okay?" he asked.

The girl pressed her lips together again, narrowing her eyes. "How can I trust you?" she asked, raising one eyebrow.

The boy rolled his eyes. "Your choice. You either can… or can't."

The girl turned on her heel. "Fine. Midnight," she said, her back to him. Pausing at the doorway, she half-turned. Looking as if she was chewing something particularly tough, she spat out the words, "Thank you," before quickly turning and rushing out of the stone courtyard as fast as she could.

The boy sank down on a bench near the ivy-covered stone wall, and dropped his head in his hand, the half-charred black cloak in his hand. _You shouldn't have done that, Kuro,_ he thought, with slight regret. _But I had to. She'll kill herself otherwise…_

_Four years later_

As the sun set, fifteen-year-old Akari fidgeted nervously at the communal dinner, her eyes shifting nervously from her mother to her food.

"Akari! You're so jumpy tonight! You need to relax before you performance!" her mother chided gently.

Akari dragged her eyes toward her lap and sternly told them to stay there. "Yes, mother," she said, fastening her eyes on her food and commanding her eyes to stay trained on it.

A smooth voice spoke behind her. "And I suppose this is the Dancer?"

Akari half-turned in her seat. "No, I'm the mascot hog-monkey," she said sarcastically, not quite looking at the man looming behind her.

"Touchy, isn't she? I am So Tang, the talent hunter for the Institute of Entertainment. And your talent has been widely spoken of. I am sure that you would like to learn more," he said persuasively, his voice sweeping over them like thick honey.

Uhg, his voice was smothering.

Akari closed her eyes. "I'm not leaving my mother," she said staunchly.

The man laughed a smooth laugh. "But I haven't decided whether you are good enough yet. You have to prove to me you're good enough before you refuse me."

Akari turned her back on him, settling more comfortably on her scarlet cushion and picking up a piece of fish and with her fingers placed it in her mouth as she stared ahead. Underneath her breath, "And I'll do horribly tonight, just to get at him," she mumbled through her bite of fish. Her mother looked horrified.

"You'll do no such thing! You will do well, or I'll…" her mother faltered for a second before continuing, "Confine you to your tent and practices with a companion for three weeks, with extra camp chores," she finished, looking stern.

Akari bit her lip in consternation. Well, no matter how she did tonight, she would refuse to go. She couldn't leave her mother to hold up this entire show by herself, nor could she give up her secret firebending lessons with Keru. Well, it was mostly the firebending lessons. She did admit that most of the other dancers were pretty good, and able to take her place. Well, she was better, but they were good. But she couldn't give up the lessons. They had become her outlet for being stuffed into show clothes, stage makeup pasted over her face, and endless hours of organized dancing.

Yeah, she pretty much hated it. No matter how wonderfully she could dance, her amazing agility was better suited to firebending than ballet. She was graceful, but the rush when she fought gave her something beyond simple grace. She bit her lip. "I'll do my best, but I'm still not going with him," she said, staring at her fish strips.

By now, her mother was long past listening to her. "It's such a great opportunity! You'd learn so much more! You could be a refined young lady! You will do your best tonight. You could marry well, after a successful career!"

Staring at the spicy fish, she tuned her out, nodding when she heard pauses in the babble. About fifteen minutes later, she excused herself, saying she had to get ready.

She'd hardly touched her fish.

Ana-Marie sighed. "Mom, why couldn't I go with my friends? You don't really need me tonight," she said, hope in her eyes.

Her mother bit her lip, shaking her head. "No, I need you there this time. Really. We're doing the catering at the Tilde's house." Her mother let out a contented sigh. "The Tilde's! Imagine it. Catering for the most prestigious family in town!" in a daze, her mother handed over her uniform, which was possibly the ugliest thing in all four nations.

"Mo-om, I'm not going to have to wear that, am I?" Ana-Marie stared in horror at the uniform before her.

Her mother snapped back to the present, looking stern. "It's your uniform, now go and put it on."

Still grumbling, Ana-Marie put on the horrible brown-and-red tunic with the flaring sleeves and the awful puke-brown baggy trousers. Slipping on her favorite (and most worn) brown slipper-shoes, she dragged herself in, tying up her curly brown hair behind her.

"Ready," she said rebelliously, ready to burn the uniform into soap-smelling ashes.

With her mother, they walked out onto the brown cobblestone street where they lived, in the slum part of town. They were Mandette servants, highly trained servants that hired themselves out to do dinner parties, banquets, and the like, trained to cater to guests needs and whims.

Ana-Marie rolled her clear brown eyes in annoyance as they approached the door.

"Look like you're eager to serve," her mother hissed under her breath as they approached the door. Ana-Marie pasted a false smile on her face and bounced with every step, looking bubbly and happy. Well, she'd had a lot of practice.

"Terra and Ana-Marie Jeong, here for the banquet," said Terra humbly. She'd also had quite a bit of practice.

The guard, looking bored, ushered them in. A servant with an annoyingly nasal voice and a thick accent met them on the other side of the gate, looking important.

"I am Lee, and I am the head servant. I will show you where you will go."

Her mother nodded obediently, following the man. Ana-Marie sulked behind, hating every movement.

As they passed the kitchen, Lee ushered her mother into it. "This is where you will go. You will be called when it is time for you to serve."

Terra walked into the kitchen, and, glancing behind her slightly, Ana-Marie started to follow.

Lee held up a long, white hand that spoke of almost no hard work. _Man, what does he do, order other servants around all day?_ she thought mutinously. "Wait, girl," he said, superiority radiating from every smug feature. Half-smiling, he walked on, obviously expecting her to follow. "We have another job for you."

Behind the makeshift stage, Akari was getting pinched and prodded into her performance outfit. It was blindingly red satin, in two parts. The top part ended about five inches before the baggy trousers started. The blouse had only one strap, but held up well, as it had to survive an entire performance, double backflips and all. Her baggy trousers had belt holding them up, just above her hips, and were baggy until her calves, where they ended, going tight there too.

As soon as she had finished, she carefully split her hair into two parts. The top part she split in half again, winding the two parts into two mini-buns on the back of her head. The last part, the bottom part, she braided, tying it off with a fancy red-and-gold braided strap.

Then, to end her torture, a hand latched onto her shoulder, forcing her down into a chair. _Here it comes,_ she thought, dread etched on her features. Without further ado, the woman in front of her carefully and meticulously plastered about two inches of foundation on her face. Stage makeup. She HATED that.

After they had finished the foundation ordeal, they started with the rest. After smearing rouge on top of the two inches of foundation, they surrounded her eyes with ink-black kohl and brushed black mascara on her long blonde-brown eyelashes. All in all, stage makeup. Glancing down at her hands, scarred from burns she'd gotten while attempting to teach herself firebending, and her ragged nails, she was suddenly grateful for the distance between the crowd and her. Then it hit her. Stage fright.

It was silly, really, to be so nervous that she felt like she was going to throw up before a performance. I mean, she'd done it a thousand times. Stood up there, let the music direct her steps. But the crowds banished whatever composure that she'd had beforehand.

With a scowl, she followed the manservant. "What job do you have for me," she said, feigning interest. He pointed through a door. "Eat first, and then we will prepare you."

For some reason, those words scared her more than anything.

She entered the hall and ran promptly into a boy with shaggy, light brown hair streaked with black. "Sorry," she said unapologetically, propping herself up on her elbows.

He stared at her for a moment, then blinked. "What are you waiting for?" he asked raising one eyebrow.

Staring incredulously at him, she said, "Haven't you ever heard of chivalry?"

The boy paused, raising his eyes to the celing. "Oh!" he exclaimed, offering her his hand. "May I help you up?" he asked, his tone overly polite.

"That's better," she responded, then took it. He pulled her up, then let go of her hand and brushed it against his simple servant's tunic. "I am sorry for running into you," he said, keeping with his chivalrous charade. "May I direct you wherever you need to go?" he said, offering her his arm. There was a slight undertone of sarcasm in his tone.

Raising her eyes to the celing, she crossed her arms. "I just wanted to jerk you back into the real world, not make you act like a prince finding a lost lady." Pausing, she glanced back at him. "On the other hand, would you know where the servants are supposed to eat?" she asked, eagerness in her tone.

He dropped his arm and walked to the wall. Pressing a tile with an emblazoned pineapple, a door appeared in the wall. He gestured toward it. "In there, milady," he said, not letting down his attitude.

Suddenly, she spun. "At least I'm not slumming, you idiot," she hissed, stomping through the door.

A look of shock crossed the boy's face, much to her satisfaction. She retreated around the door, into the room behind.

"Hello, dancer," came the smooth-as-honey voice from behind her.

Akari spun, her many-colored eyes narrowing. "What do you want," she said, her resigned tone making her question more of a statement.

The man had an annoying habit of looming. He bent, lowering himself to her five-foot level. "Listen to me," he started.

"No, you listen to me," she hissed, cutting across his words, "No matter what you think of me, I can't leave. Everything I know is here, and everything I care about. Unless my mom makes me, which she won't, I am not going with you. Do you hear me?"

His eyes narrowed. "I've heard your reputation, both for your dancing and for your temper. And neither of them is going to stop me. If you're as good as your fans say, then our school will do anything to get you." His mud-colored eyes flashed dangerously. "Anything."

Akari took a step back, her eyes still narrowed. "Then you've underestimated me, mudbender," she spun on her heel, almost spitting in his face. But underneath, fear stirred in the pit of her stomach. Could they make her? Perhaps… she could think of a few ways. Hopefully they couldn't, however.

Keeping up her angry stride, she disappeared into the wings, striding almost to the entrance of the banqueting hall. Collapsing on the steps, she buried her face in one hand, using the other to prop herself up against the steps. She was pretty sure she couldn't be seen from the hall, though she could see the guests.

Stuffing her face with as much food as possible, Ana-Marie quickly cleaned off her plate. A minute before she finished, the lily-handed servant came back in. Stuffing the last few bites in her mouth and swallowing, she wiped off her mouth with her sleeve. The servant looked pained.

"When you are among reputable company, you eat with small bites and chew slowly and sedately," he chided in his high, nasal voice.

Ana-Marie gave him a cool look. "I'll eat like that… in reputable company," she answered in a cool voice.

The servant narrowed his eyes. "Watch yourself. Now, you must put this on, and then I will explain your duty to you.

Grabbing the sky-blue dress out of the manservant's hands, she was ushered into a bathroom by female servants and washed, dressed, and primped by female servants. As she stepped out, the manservant raked his eyes over her. "You'll do," he said shortly.

Now officially confused, she raised one eyebrow. "Huh?" she asked, quirking one eyebrow.

He sighed. "You will mingle with the guests and ask about the food. You must begin conversations about the food and figure out what the guests think. It is rude for the servants or the hosts to ask."

A 'huh' look was written across her face.

The servant took a deep breath. "You must go into the party. Follow me so far?" he asked mockingly.

Ana-Marie put on her innocent look. "No, I didn't get that, could you say it again?"

With extreme patience, the servant continued. "You will ask about the food. The guests will answer you. You must not be found out."

Ana-Marie nodded, all joking over.

"At the end of the party, there will be a contest, where the guests will guess who you are. If one guesses you, they will get a golden egg. If they do not, then the egg will go to you."

Up until this point, Ana-Marie had been ready to refuse. But at the idea of a golden egg… It would pay their taxes for at least a month, they could get new (and better looking) uniforms, it would feed them… Her eyes widened as she considered the implications. "Fine. I'll do it," she said, ungracious, as ever. Smiling, he ushered her into the banquet hall. Taking a deep breath, she stepped into the room, her eyes interested.

Within moments, she felt confidence welling up in her. This was acting, the one thing she could do. Her talent above all talents. Pulling out her politely interested face, she meandered toward a middle aged lady with a lot of makeup. Picking up a tart from a tray, she bit into it with dainty relish. "Ohh, this is wonderful!" she said, excitement spicing her voice. Turning toward the lady, and cocking her head to the side, she said, "Did you try these?" plucking another one delicately off the tray and offering it to the woman. The woman took it and bit into it, blueberry juice dripping from her mouth. Wiping her mouth and fingers with a napkin, she exclaimed, "They _are_ wonderful! Lovely. Thank you for showing them to me! Now, who are you?" she asked, wiping the last trace of the staining juice from her lips.

Her mind racing, Ana-Marie took another bite of her tart, mentally groping. Chewing slowly, and not letting her see the absolute confusion in her mind… she hadn't thought that far ahead. "I'm Ana-Marie," she said, after swallowing her tart and dabbing her lips with a napkin.

The woman smiled. "I'm Keruta. Oh, Hello! What do your parents do again?" The woman snagged another blueberry tart as a tray floated by.

"Uh… they're in the catering business," she said, pulling on as many strings of truth as possible. This woman was one of those ladies who liked to pretend that she knew anyone and everyone and wouldn't let down that charade. Well, two could play at that game.

Keruta gave a little half-gasp and missed the next tray of blueberry tarts. "They run _that_ catering company?"

Having absolutely no idea what she was talking about, she gave a little smile. "Yes," she said, a smile on her face.

"But I thought your parents disappeared years ago!" said the woman, still staring goggle-eyed at her.

"They did," she started smoothly, then let her face break down into a tragic expression. "I-I-I…" she paused, sniffing for emphasis, "I just can't talk about it," she said, a fake tear running down her cheek. She dabbed her eyes with a napkin and wiped quickly underneath her eyes with her fingers, to prevent smudges from the eyeliner.

Keruta was immediately contrite. "Oh, you poor _dear_. I shouldn't have brought it up." The woman patted her shoulder, saying, "Why don't you go talk with those other girls over there," she gesticulated toward a group of girls giggling in a corner.

Blinking her eyes and putting on a brave face, she nodded and walked over to the group of girls.

The girl with the darkest hair, in a cut that brushed her shoulders, beckoned her over. "Hello," said the girl. "Who are you?"

Ana-Marie smiled, all traces of fake tears gone. "I'm Ana-Marie."

The girl with the dark hair didn't press. "I'm Tala. These are Silva and Shea. They're twins," she said, gesturing to the two girls standing next to her, looking like mirror images of each other. One smirked. "As if that wasn't obvious," muttered one of the twins. Taala laughed. "Oh, shut up, Shea," she said, poking her friend playfully on the shoulder. The other twin, presumably Silva, rolled her eyes at the antics of her sister and her friend. Lowering her voice to a dramatic whisper, she grabbed Ana-Marie's arm and whispered in her ear, "Don't pay any attention to them," Lowering her voice even more, though you could still hear it, she finished her statement, "They're insane." All the girls burst out laughing, including Ana-Marie. Through chortles, Taala asked, "Do you mind if we call you Ana? Or Marie? The whole name is hard to say."

Ana-Marie laughed. "Just call me Ana." Glancing conspiringly to the side, she said, "When people call me Marie, it reminds me of my neighbor's cat." She shivered. "The thing scares me to death." she shivered, then broke out laughing. The other girls joined her.

In a collective gasp, all the laughter stopped. "What?" asked Twin 1. Soundlessly, Twin 2 pointed toward a clump of boys that had been there for about five minutes. Within ten seconds, the other three girls were clumped together, hugging each other and squealing.

Ana blinked. "I don't get it."

Taala, gasping with excitement, pointed. "It's Zero!"

Ana raised an eyebrow. "Zero?"

Both the twins gaped at her and began talking at the same time. "You've never heard of him? His real name is Lee, but he hates it because it's so common so he calls himself Zero…" said Twin 1, at the exact same time that Twin 2 said, "He's the most famous teenager in the fire nation, other than the fire prince and princess!" Twin two ended in a squeal as twin one ended in a dreamy sigh.

Ana nodded, her eyes still confused. "Okay… which one is he?" she asked, glancing toward the clump of boys.

Taala, composing herself and her voice, said, "The one with the light brown and black hair and blue eyes," she said, failing her composure and giving an exited squeal.

Ana searched the clump, finally finding the one that fit Taala's description. When her eyes finally picked him out, her eyes narrowed. "Oh," she said, disappointment and rage underlying her tone. "I recognize him."

The boy, presumably Zero, turned to see the noisy scene. Ana-Marie paled visibly and slipped into the crowd, using her remarkable talent for melting noiselessly into a crowd.

_Oh man, please tell me he didn't see me. Please tell me he didn't see me. Please please please no, _she thought, her mental voice panicked, though her face betrayed none of it.

For the next ten minutes or so, she mingled with the guests, but slowly, the guests migrated toward a group of chairs surrounding a rather large makeshift stage. Peering around slowly, she caught a flash of red at the entrance to the wings. Glancing around, she checked whether anyone was watching. But to anyone else, she was just another face in the crowd. She meandered slowly toward the wings, only to stop as someone grabbed her arm. Spinning, she turned to face whoever had grabbed her arm.

It was Zero

"What do you want," she said calmly, yanking her arm out of his hand.

The boy glared at her. "You weren't slumming, eh?" he asked.

Ana froze. "Of course I wasn't," she lied unconvincingly.

Zero glared. "It was you who I ran into. You were slumming."

Ana glared harder. "No! People aren't animals to be gawked at," she said angrily.

Through this glare-fest, there had been a good bit of speculation going on. "Ohhhh," said Zero, a smile growing on his face. "You're the pretend guest," he whispered, leaning forward.

Ana's acting instinct kicked in. She let offended surprise flood across her face, and then anger. "How dare you," she said, her voice a hoarse whisper, stomping off toward the wings. Disappearing behind the black curtain, she stopped in surprise.

"Who are you?" Akari asked, raising her head, embarrassed surprise in her eyes.

Hey, even if you think this is the crappiest story EVER, review please. I'm dying here. PLEASE review review review review!!


	2. Escapades

Chapter one

**Chapter Two**

**A/N: I WILL get to the Gaang. I swear. I just need to get through Ana-Marie and Akari's bit, which will take a few chappies. I can't throw in the Gaang as of yet, because of time issues. This chapter is prolly happening around when the second season starts. I will start writing about the Gaang when I get to the time of the Boiling Rock.**

**I do not own Avatar, though I sorely wish I did. One, because Avatar is pwnsome, and two, because I could really use some pocket money. I do own all of my OC's, and if you steal them, I will report you to the Admins. And the giant CareBears of DOOM. **

Stumbling upward hastily, Akari touched her face self-consciously. So much makeup. She probably looked like a clown. Collecting her wits about her, she bowed gracefully. "I am Akari, the dancer," she said politely, the tiniest bit of stress in her eyes.

Ana laughed. Bowing, she answered, "I am Ana-Marie, the pretend guest. You can call me Ana. I'm attempting to escape from an overly nosy boy who I ran into earlier while he was slumming." Disgust suddenly flooded across her face. "Ugh. Looking at us other people as if…" loosing her cool, she grasped for the right adjective. "As if we were… Animals in a zoo."

Akari nodded. "I understand." She sank down on her step. "Except it's every day, every time I climb up on that stage…" She stopped suddenly. "Sorry. Wasn't supposed to say that…" she said, blush flooding her cheeks. Standing again, she turned. "Um…" she paused. "Meet me here again after the first performance is over," she said in a rush, blurting it out before she could stop herself. Slapping a hand over her mouth, she mumbled, "Sorry… I didn't think…"

Without thinking, Ana put her hand on the girl's bare shoulder. "It's okay. And I will meet you," she promised. She shuffled backward, glancing over her shoulder. She paused, then squinted at Akari. "Wait…"

Akari winced. _Here it comes…_

Ana stopped. "Never mind," she said suddenly, turning and leaving a stunned Akari behind her.

_She didn't comment on my hair,_ Akari thought in wonder. _My hair _or_ my eyes. _

She slowed. One of the reasons their act was so famous was because of her, and not just because of her talent. She was well aware that she was different. Always different. Her long, blonde hair was definitely an oddity, only intensified by her many-colored eyes. I say many-colored for lack of a better explanation. Her eyes were different colors depending on the clothing she was wearing, but not reflected in them, like some. For example, if she was wearing red, as she was at the moment, her eyes showed a strange catlike green that faded to gold around the pupil, when she wore black, her eyes turned to an amber close to the shade attributed to the royal family, but with a definite tinge of red behind it.

Over the years, time had taken its turn upon her appearance. Her once platinum-blonde hair had faded to a darker gold, threaded with strands of light brown, white-blonde, and even traces of red. Her face had taken on the look of one much older than her mere fifteen years. Between almost completely running the camp at times to being treated like an ignorant child in others, the ups and downs had given her the early loss of her baby fat. This loss left her lean and slender, though no taller than five feet at the most.

Her silent feet whispered over the wooden floor, barely making a noise as she walked to the entrance.

"Akari! Where were you!?" came her mother's voice as she felt a hand grip her arm, dragging her unceremoniously toward the stage. Peeking behind the curtain, she saw that most of the guests, including Ana-Marie, had assembled in front of the stage and were sitting down. Akari paled.

Her mother rolled her eyes. "Akari, it's fine. You really don't need to panic before every performance."

Akari's shaking hands gripped the curtain weakly. "I shouldn't. I don't need to. But I do," she whispered, attempting to calm herself by rubbing her hands down her arms.

Swelling behind her, the music started. Shoving her analytical mind to the back for a few seconds, she let her subconscious take over, her body moving with long-practiced movements. She took a flying leap onto the stage. She landed softly and silently, on one foot. The dance had started.

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Ana-Marie slipped out from behind the curtain, bewildered. How could the girl have hair the color of gold? How were her eyes that haunting silvery shade? How… why? With the thousand questions spinning in her mind, she ran smack into someone for the second time that day.

"Ah, there you are!" came an all-to-familiar voice.

"Go away," she said graciously, attempting to walk around him.

"Not until you tell me the truth," Zero stated. He grabbed her by the arm and spun her to face him, drawing disapproving glares from a few different people.

"What if I refuse?" she said, yanking her arm out of his grip.

He offered an arm. "Then I follow you until I find out," he stated simply. An impish smile grew on his face. "Though I think I already know."

And in that moment, she knew he knew. Her denial had been as good as a confession. There went the golden egg. "Know what?" she stated, still pulling her innocent act as long as possible.

Zero only smiled.

Ana ignored his arm and turned toward the stage. "The performance is about to start, she said to no one in particular, heading toward Tala and the Twins."

The three girls squealed. "He talked to you! He STOPPED you!" squealed Tala excitedly. The twins looked incoherent, only squeals breaking through. Ana nodded. "Yep," she said. Making a face, she shook her head. "He's not very polite," she stated, casting a disapproving glare at his approaching form. Tala shrugged. "He's unspeakably gorgeous, though. And rich," she added as an afterthought. The twins stopped squealing, miraculously, as he drew into earshot, and all the girls, excepting Ana, straightened, all but a trace of their former fangirl awe wiped from their faces.

Zero bowed. "I am Zero Kamanci," he started, before all three girls began squealing again. The braver of the twins latched onto his arm, Tala latching onto the other. "Ohh, let's go find seats," said the twin latched onto Zero's arm. "I'm Shea," said the the twin not latched onto Zero's arm, staring at him dreamily. Dragged away by all three girls, he managed a despairing glance in Ana's direction. She answered with a mocking wave, then headed off, engaging a young gentleman in food-oriented conversation on her way toward the stage.

Zero groaned. She was really going to leave him with these giggling girls?

After seeing the girls sit Zero down, Ana quietly sat as far away as possible, under the guise of speaking to the young man.

"What's your name?" she asked conversationally.

The young man looked eighteen or twenty, with serious dark eyes. He bowed to her before she sat. "I am Kuro Sasate. You are?"

Ana-Marie smiled, and was about to answer when the music began. Kuro laid a hand on her elbow and led her to a seat, then sat himself.

Blush flooded across her cheeks before she could stop it, so she turned her face away. "A-Ana-Marie," she half-stuttered. Her voice gained strength as she went on, however. "You may call me Ana, however."

Kuro nodded. "Nice to meet you, Ana," he said, his voice rich and almost sweet, like the song of a violin. Biting the side of her cheek, she forced her eyes toward the stage…

And was completely blown away.

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""'

_Jump, twist, flip, pirouette, _Akari thought, tracking her moves through her mind. She felt every eye trained on her like a burning coal as she did a vertical split while still spinning, her toes pointed.

The music continued, dancing along like the dancer herself. As the music slowly grew simpler, you could hear the narrator's voice weaving through the notes, telling a story.

_Once, long ago, there was a group of traveling warriors. During the day, they went along the roads, disguised as traveling gypsies, singing of the great warriors of old. But at night, they became bandits, the protectors of the persecuted, warriors against the ever-turning tide of injustice._

A few of the other dancers spun out onto the stage, some dressed in black silk, and others in greatly glorified rags.

_They were called the Black Dragon._

The music swelled around the name, and all the dancers, including her, went into identical spins as the music grew.

_This is the story of the last conquest of the Black Dragon. The story of their greatest victory… and final downfall._

_The leader of the Black Dragon, surprisingly, was not a man, but a woman. _

Akari's mother leapt out from the black-clad figures, supposedly the black dragon, and made a dipping motion toward the crowd, for the leader was her character. An appreciative murmur swept over the crowd.

_This woman was a firebender, the best of all firebenders. Fire obeyed her as it obeyed no one else._

Akari made an amazingly high jump over the heads of the ragtag ones to twist in the air and land in front of her mother. Her mother made movements, and Akari twisted, flitting about like the flame she was supposed to represent.

_The woman, Akana, led her band with an iron fist and a compassionate heart. But as the leader was a woman, her heart sometimes laid in the wrong places. _

The male dancers, dressed in a dark burnt orange, did a somersault onto the stage. One of them spun over to the dancer portraying Akana, and lifted her easily, still spinning.

_The man she loved was among the guard of a rich man's house. However, she did not reveal her true identity to him, for that lord was oppressing those under his domain, and had a price out on her head._

_In the darkness of a sleepless night, she ran out to meet her lover. While with him, he told her of a great treasure within that man's house, stolen from the peasants he ruled over. When she heard this, Akana was greatly troubled, and called on her ally, fire, to help her._

_The reason fire obeyed Akana as it obeyed none other was because she had realized the truth about. Fire was life, and like life, it could not be controlled, but guided. She realized that fire had a will of its own, and could easily get out of control. If you tried to control it, it only took greater will to keep it under strict control. Fire had a will, a spirit of its own._

Akari and her mother danced around each other, Akari sometimes moving independently, other times copying her mother's movements.

_Akana realized that she needed to get the treasure back to the peasants. That same night, she mobilized the Black Dragon to steal the treasure._

Akari spun behind the dancers in brown, who were dancing independently from the story, as her mother swept her hands over her head, and the rest of the dancers in black surrounded her and swept toward the brown-clad dancers who were supposed to represent the castle.

_As she crept through the house, she felt a great pain in her heart. She did not wish to take advantage of her lover, but without the treasure, the people of the land would eventually die, despair their constant companion._

As Akari flitted around them in ever-more-complicated patterns, her mother used her steps to indicate the greatest sadness.

_Finally, she came upon the treasure._

_Summoning the fire to her, she prepared to kill all the guards, only to find that there was only one. Her lover._

Akari seemed to flicker around her mother, then froze, clasping her hands in front of her, pointing at the man in orange.

_Both of them were greatly distressed, but the man attacked first, angry at Akana for taking advantage of him._

The man in orange leaped at Akari's mother, hands outstretched in a graceful leap. He caught up Akari's mother, holding her at arm's length, as they weaved around each other in the pattern known as the dance of death.

_But what he did not think of, was fire. Akana's death was close at hand, and as the lover stabbed Akana in the heart, Fire grew angry. It lunged at the lover, intending to burn him into oblivion._

Akari began the most complicated bit of the dance. She skipped to the side and flicked her legs up into an areal cartwheel, landing in front of the man in orange. She began to move so fast it was like she flickered and flashed in the light, her gold hair catching the light. Slipping behind him, she used his shoulders as a vault, vaulting over his shoulders to land in front of him. In a movement to fast to see, she leaped onto his chest, her lips poised at his throat, as if she was a predator intending to rip it out. His hands lifted as if to push her off, though he was actually supporting her. The scene froze.

_As the world faded from Akana's eyes, she begged fire to save her lover and the treasure, then burn the house to a crisp, her last conquest…_

Fake blood dripping from her chest, Akari's mother went into a begging position, her illegible begging slightly audible.

_Fire agreed. She let her victim go, picking up the treasure. Flying as only fire can, she carried the lover and the treasure out to the woods, while the castle behind them burned into ashes, its white and blue flames licking the sky as if they could burn the very stars._

_The lover pointed at the treasure and said to set it free once and for all. Drawing the same knife he had used to stab Akana, he was about to stab himself when Fire stopped him._

The man in orange lifted a crooked knife to his breath and Akari, with her flitting step, knocked it out of his hand, picking up a small box with her hand

_Fire asked him if he knew what the treasure was. He did not._

_The treasure was Hope, trapped in the form of a butterfly._

_Fire opened the box and let out Hope. The butterfly flitted about the man's head, giving him true hope._

Akari opened the box and laid it on the ground. Facing her back to the crowd, she made several shapes with her hands, and a fiery butterfly lifted out of the box, drawing awed gasps from the crowd. It flitted around the man's head, then soared over the crowd, fading into nothingness there.

_Then hope returned to the land. Because of Akana's sacrifice, and the treasure, Fire also gifted itself among the people, creating the first firebenders._

_""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""_

The music swelled around her as she made her last, most spectacular steps, and as she leaped into the air, the light flashing on her red silk, as she reached the peak of her jump, the stage went black and the music silenced, leaving the impression of her spinning in the air imprinted on the audience's minds. There was a stunned silence for a few seconds, then applause began to swell around them, turning into a storm of applause as the lights came back on. The dancers bowed, then retreated into the wings. Most of the younger dancers, however, stayed on stage, crossing their legs, staring interestedly out at the crowd that was dispersing below. One dancer, in particular, was absent, however, Ana noticed.

Rising gracefully from her seat, she nodded to Kuro in thanks, then started to weave her way toward the 'door' to the wings. On her way over, however, a voice called, with a note of desperation, "Ana-Marie!" She spun, and giggled. Zero was still being clung to by Tala and Silva, while Shea looked jealously on. Turning her back, she deliberately walked away from him when a thought struck her mind. _If he knows I'm the pretend guest, and I behave so, then will he unveil me?_

Turning again, she slowly walked over. "Whoa, I don't think you need to suffocate him, Tala," she said jokingly, a smirk dressing her face.

Zero glared.

Not looking at him, she sat by Tala and hooked her arm around her elbow. "Come with me to get a blueberry tart. The things are amazing, y'know?" she began to drift away, and Tala and the twins followed, if a bit reluctantly. As another tray floated past, she grabbed one off of it and offering it to Tala. Tala took it, then cast a glance back at Zero. "How did you get him to talk to you?" she asked, awed jelousy in her voice.

Ana shrugged. "I just passed him. But he's knocked me over a few times, and was generally unpleasant to me." She glared in his direction. "He was very rude." She gritted her teeth.

Tala sighed. "But he _talked_ to you!" she said, her voice dreamy.

Ana rolled her eyes. Obviously none of what she said had made a dent in the conversation. A tap on her shoulder distracted her from saying what a rude pig Zero was.

"May I steal Miss Ana away for a few minutes?" the darker voice of Kuro asked behind her.

Ana turned, surprised. Tala stared, looking almost more stunned than Ana did. "Um, I guess…" she said breathlessly.

Kuro bowed, a crooked half-smile on his face. "Thank you," he said, with a small bow. Beckoning with one brown finger, he headed over to the wall. Half-breathless herself, she followed him over to a shadow on the wall. He leaned against the wall, touching the wall beside him, his deep brown eyes serious. "I saw you go into the wings. Who did you talk to?" he asked, as if he already knew.

Ana was taken aback. _Not the question I expected…_ she thought. "Um, the girl who played the fire. The acrobatic one in red."

He nodded. "I thought so. I'd just like to warn you, she gets a little over-sensitive about her appearance. I know you're going back there, so I thought I'd just tell you what subjects to avoid."

Ana nodded, her head spinning. "I… Thank you," she said, recovering herself and heading toward the wings. Once again, however, she felt a hand clasp her arm. Rolling her eyes, she shook him off. "What do you want, Zero," she said boardly, turning to face him, arms crossed.

He smiled. "I'm here to follow you around, as I promised," he said, with a mocking bow.

Ana glared at him, her clear brown eyes boring holes into his.

He smiled and offered an arm.

With one glance, Ana refused and turned, disappearing into the wings.

This time, Akari was standing. "Hello Ana," she said, a smile gracing her features. She'd gotten most of the makeup off, except for a thin line of black around her eyes and the lipstick on her lips. "What took you so long?"

Akari smiled and sat, patting the space next to her on the step. "I'm guessing you have a few questions," she said, with a tiny tightening of her eyes.

Ana sat. "Not really…" she paused. "Is there more to that story your troupe told?"

Akari looked surprised. "Well, yes. I can't tell the whole thing, so just ask me what questions you want – "

A hand brushed aside the curtains, and a graceful, dark figure stood inside. Ana started. Akari looked bored.

"Yo, Kuro," she said, rolling her eyes. "Thought you wouldn't be able to get in."

Kuro sighed. "Just thought I'd drop in."

Akari laughed. "How _did _you get in? I mean, how did you get invited?"

Kuro gave her a crooked half-smile. "I simply used a bit of charm," he said, his dark eyes somehow sparkling.

Akari glowered.

Kuro laughed and raised his hands in surrender. "Okay, I snuck in. Happy?"

Akari smirked. "I thought so. I mean, unless you flirted with the Master of the house's daughter, you would have never gotten in, so I guessed you snuck in."

Ana stared back and forth between them. "You two know each other?" she asked.

They both laughed.

"You could say that," Akari snickered.

Kuro pretended to whack her upside the head. "Shush, little girl."

Akari curled her hands into pretend claws. "Little girl? You forget; I could tear you to pieces."

Kuro laughed. Akari jumped on him, pinning him to the wall.

Ana giggled. "You two are so cute."

Kuro rolled his eyes. "We're not _together_," he said, great patience in his voice.

Akari sighed. "No, he's like my older brother, almost. Almost like a father, but to infuriating," she said, with a mock glare.

Ana was about to answer, as another, paler figure slipped in. "So _that's _where you've been, Ana," Zero said, settling himself against the wall.

Ana sighed. "Why do you keep following me around, Zero?" she asked, fury just under her calm voice.

He smirked. "One, because you are interesting. Two, because making you annoyed is fun. Three, I saw you disappear in here and guessed that you were talking to someone, and I wanted to figure out who it was."

Akari snorted. "That was very detailed… uh… Zero, is it?"

Zero nodded, and raked his eyes over her. "Hey, you're the girl who played the Fire… Do you dye your hair, or is it just like that?" he asked casually.

Kuro's eyes darkened as sudden pain filled Akari's eyes. "It's… just like that," she whispered.

Kuro glared at him, positioning himself between Zero and Akari. "Tact is a gift of angels," he hinted darkly.

Zero backed off immediately. "Sorry, I didn't mean to embarrass you," he said. Kuro still glared.

Akari sighed and stepped around Kuro. "I accept your apology," she whispered, and stepped to Kuro's side. Ana put her arm around Akari's shoulders and glared at Zero. Zero sighed.

Akari shook them off. "It's okay. I'm not that much of a cream puff," she said in a joking voice. Stepping forward, she bowed. "I am Akari Hitami, also known as The Dancer."

Zero bowed back. "I am Zero Kamanci, son of Sudon Kamanci."

Akari swept her hand toward the still-glowering Kuro. "This is Kuro Sasate. He's way to protective," she said, smirking at him.

"I am not!" Kuro said, turning red.

Akari rolled her eyes.

Ana snickered. "You know, Kuro, you kind of are. I mean, you just jumped in front of her as if verbal barbs were something you could block physically."

Kuro mock-scowled at her. "Shut up, you."

Ana stuck her tongue at him. "I don't feel like shutting up."

Akari burst out laughing. "Ohh, I'll have to steal that one from you," she said, poking Ana's shoulder.

All four of them laughed, then stopped suddenly.

"Wow, that was sudden," remarked Akari, bluntly honest, as usual.

Zero nodded. "I mean, I think I met half of you less than thirty seconds ago."

Kuro smiled. "True. Though I'm thinking more of twenty-five seconds." Both boys laughed.

Akari quirked an eyebrow as Ana rolled her eyes. "How exactly was that funny?" asked Akari.

"I concur with that statement," Ana said, linking her arm with Akari's.

Both boys looked confused. "It just… was."

"Well, you two have terrible senses of humor."

Ana giggled. "This is so on the spot. Oh well. Guess this is life."

Akari nodded.

"Having fun, Dancer? You have lived up to my expectations," came a voice from behind her.

Akari spun. "Oh. It's you."

Kuro stepped up and came to Akari's side. "Akari, who is this man?" he asked, looking the man up and down, his muscles subtly tightening.

Akari scowled. "A Search Hound. I've been expecting him for months. He's been following me around backstage."

Kuro was silent.

"Search hound? That's a new term," So Teng's thick, suffocating voice flowed over them. Ana flinched like it was a physical blow.

"Dancer, I'm going to ask you to join our school. I have talked to your mother, and she has agreed to your going. Get ready after the second act is over."

Akari froze. "W-what?" she asked, shock covering her face.

The swarthy man smiled. "It means I've caught you, dancing bird."

Akari narrowed her eyes and hissed, more like a cat than anything else, "You'll have to catch me first."

Ana narrowed her eyes. "You'll have to get through me first," she said, her voice curiously strained.

Zero stationed himself at her side. "And me," he said, his own voice strong.

Kuro, his voice quiet, walked right up to the man, talking quietly all the time. "You cannot take Akari without my permission, and at this point, I fail to give it. As she does not want to go, she does not have to go."

The man sighed. "Are you a parent or legal guardian? No. Her mother said she has to go, so she must."

What he didn't notice was that, while Kuro had been talking in his deceptively calm voice, he had come up behind him. With a solid knock to the back of the head, the Hound fell to the ground, unconscious.

Akari stared at him, stunned.

Kuro began to talk very fast. "Akari, go to your tent and pack a few pairs of clothes and whatever you need to survive. Only as much as you can carry. Make it look like you're packing to go with this swindler. He's not really from a school, Akari, I've seen him. I don't know where he's from, but I think we need to leave now."

Akari looked at him, then at the stage. "B-but, what about mother, and…" her voice sounded very small.

Kuro's eyes narrowed. "You've always said that you want to get out of here. Let's go now."

Zero snapped out of his daze. "I think I know where he's from. He's a recruiter. For the Elite troops in the fire nation army."

Akari gritted her teeth. "Then let's get out of here. There is no way I'll ever join the Fire Lord or his darned army."

Kuro laid a hand on Akari's shoulder. "Akari doesn't believe that the Fire Lord is doing the right thing. She thinks that the firebenders are going to destroy the world… or something to that extent."

Zero pursed his lips. "I don't think you understand. The Elite are the best of the best. When they find the best firebenders and the best fighters, they'll stop at nothing to get them." He paused. "At least, that's what I've heard."

Ana nodded decisively. "Akari, do you have another performance?" she asked, glancing to the side.

Akari gulped. "I do. They'll be looking for me in a few minutes."

Kuro shook his head. "That gives us less than fifteen minutes. Run, Akari." He gently turned her and shoved her in the direction of the tents. She ran, determination hardening her features.

After Akari disappeared through the doorway, Ana spun. "I can buy you more time," she said in a rush.

Kuro turned suddenly, and grasped her by the shoulders. "How?"

Ana smirked. "I'm going to have a fainting spell in the middle of a crowd," she said impishly.

Zero bit his lip. "You need to go into the next town. They'll search the area, but they won't dream of you going there. I go to school there. Academy for Excellent Schooling. Look for me there, I'll be there next week.

Zero offered his arm. "May I accompany you to your sickness, Madame?"

What she once had seen as mocking, she now took as a joke. "Of course, kind sir," she said, taking it. Together, they sauntered out toward the thickest part of the crowd.

Kuro turned toward the unconscious man. What to do with him… Ah. He looked at the rolls of carpet lining one wall, and found one as long as the "Search Hound". Unrolling it, he rolled the man up in the carpet, making sure he could still breathe, after tying and gagging him.

After that was done, he turned quickly and dissapeared out of the door after Akari.

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Akari quickly dressed in a black tunic and dark green leggings, letting her long, blonde hair down. Running to her mother's tent, she grabbed a dark cloak off the bed, throwing it over her shoulders and pulling the hood up to cover her hair. Racing back to her tent, she pulled a large cloth drawstring bag and began to stuff it with what she needed. She packed another pair of clothing, a pair of shoes (though they were annoying and unnecessary,) a bottle of water, and her Tsonga in its case. Glancing once around the tent, she began to strap on knives of all sizes, two long knives strapped to her legs, several throwing knives hidden various places on her person, and lastly, she took a hairbrush, stuffing it way down. Throwing her bundle up on her shoulder, she headed toward the front of the tent, running smack into Kuro.

"Ooof," she grunted, staggering backwards. "Gee, Kuro, watch where you're going."

Kuro jerked his head toward the road. "I've got my stuff. Let's hit the road."

Akari held up a hand, pulling a paper from her pocket. Grabbing a spare quill and dipping it in an inkwell, she scrawled,

'Dear Mother,

I had to leave. The man we thought ran a school was really an army recruiter who would do anything to get me. I had to leave. I'm with Kuro, so don't worry. I can't tell you where I'm going, because at the moment I don't know myself. I love you.

Akari'

Akari rolled it up and, with a knife, secured it to her mother's pillow. "She'll understand…" she bit her lip. "I hope." As a last thought, she closed the bottle of calligraphy ink and stuffed it into her bag. "For my hair," she said, answering Kuro's questioning gaze.

Kuro grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the tent. "Let's go," he said urgently, gently tugging her in the direction of the road.

With one last glance back at the collection of tents, she turned and vanished like a shadow fading into the darkness.

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Zero and Ana hurried, with jealous glances thrown in her direction, toward the thickest bit of people.

"So, how are you going to distract them again?" he asked urgently in a low voice.

"I'm going to pretend to faint. Luckily, I've done it before. It gets me out of History class at least once a week."

Zero snorted.

Without warning, she slumped, falling with a heavy thump to the floor. Zero was stunned, and he leaned down by her side. "Are you alright?" he whispered.

Her eyes opened a slit then shut again. With the tiniest movement, she grabbed the edge of his shirt, pulling him close to her. "You're a terrible actor," she muttered.

He smirked, then turned his ear to pretend to listen to her breathing, and shouted out to the gathering crowd of people, "She's unconscious!" A man pushed himself to the forefront of the crowd and leaned over her. "She is," he confirmed. Turning to Zero, he began drilling him with questions.

"Do you know her?"

"I just met her tonight, sir."

"Did she tell you she had any history of fainting? Did anything frighten her? What did she eat last?"

Zero mentally cursed Ana-Marie. Why couldn't it be him pretending to faint and her answering all the questions? Did he get no choice in the matter? What was he, the sidekick?

"She told me that she does almost weekly. As far as I know, nothing frightened her, but as I just said, I just met her, so –"

"What did she eat last," said the man, cutting him off.

Zero opened his mouth, and then shut it. Tala pushed herself to the forefront of the crowd and said, "Blueberry tarts, sir." She wrestled herself next to Ana, worry in her eyes.

The doctor nodded. "I myself have eaten those, and they did not make me faint. So, it must be something else. Perhaps she has not slept in a few days. Go lay her down, she should come out of it in a few minutes."

Zero nodded and, grimacing slightly, picked her up and laid her down quickly on a row of chairs that had been set up for her. A cloud of people continued to hover around them.

Ana's eyes cracked open slightly, then pretended to wince at the light. Tala hovered beside her dabbing her forehead with a damp cloth. "Ana? You alright?" Ana nodded weakly. "Did I miss anything?" Ana asked, her voice still falsely weak.

Tala shook her head. "They haven't even started the second part of the play yet. I think they're waiting for you to wake up or everyone here to go find seats."

Ana smiled. Mission accomplished.

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Akari took the lead, as she knew where she was going, and Kuro did not. "Next town over, eh? Well, I gotta say, the guy knows his strategy," she said nonchalantly.

Kuro sighed. "Well, if he's a recruiter, then they'll send people to go get him tomorrow at the latest."

Kuro glanced at her bulging bag. "What did you bring, Akari, your entire wardrobe?"

Akari rolled her eyes. "You mean all three outfits?" she asked sarcastically. "No I only brought one."

Kuro raked his eyes over her shrouded figure and grabbed her wrist. "Hold on," he said. "We're leaving tracks."

Akari sighed. "You mean, YOU'RE leaving tracks. I don't leave tracks. To many light-stepping dances."

Kuro pursed his lips. "Ok, I'm leaving tracks. We need to get off the road into a stream or something."

Akari nodded. "There's one over here," she said, turning and heading into the trees on the other side of the road. There was a splash as her feet hit the water. "Ouch!" she exclaimed. "There's a slope," she warned, "don't try to get into it too quickly."

Kuro slowed, but after about three feet, his feet hit the slope, and he slid down the trench into the stream below, landing on the unfortunate Akari.

"Ow!" she exclaimed again, as Kuro got off of her quickly. "Sorry, little sister," he said, that half-smile, gracing his face as he grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the muddy bottom.

Glaring, she slapped at the mud on her cloak, then pulled off the hood. "Before we go on, there's something I want to do," she said. Gathering her long blonde hair into a loose ponytail at the back of her head, she drew a knife. Before Kuro could react, she lifted the knife, and with a quick slice, the ponytail was off, leaving her with chin-length hair that followed the line of her jaw, leaving it long in the front, short in the back, and slightly ragged. Tearing a strip off the bottom of her cloak, she tied all the strands together, tossed it in the air, and with a single punch, turned the glistening hair into pale, glowing ashes that landed in the stream.

Kuro stared in shock.

Akari shook her head. "That feels better. I've been wanting to do that for ages."

Kuro blinked. "Well, it looks okay, and we're going to need to dye at as soon as we can."

Akari nodded. "Let's move."

Hours later, after trudging through the hard, pebbly stream bed punctuated with stretches of mud, dawn began, illuminating their goal, the city Tsande.

The Tsonga is like a violin, with a slightly curved bow and slightly different shape and shound.

**A/N: Ok. I'm having a shipping problem here. So I introduced more OC's, but I'm having trouble on how to pair them up. I've semi-made up my mind, but I'd like to hear your opinions.**

**Kuro/Akari**

**Or**

**Zero/Akari**

**Or**

**Kuro/Ana-Marie**

**Or**

**Zero/Ana-Marie**

**Or**

**Any Canon/Any OC**

**Review and tell me what you think! REVIEW. Even if you think this is the crappiest story ever, REVIEW. I repeat, REVIEW. I need constructive criticism.**


	3. Cold and Wet

Chapter one

**Chapter Three**

**A/N: Well, it's finally here. I finally got around to writing this thing. I only have one thing to say – the plot thickens. I'm going to get to the point of this thing in the next chapter… (finally.) I'd appreciate reviews. I mean, REALLY REALLY appreciate reviews.**

**Akari: Please, review, or she'll never stop complaining to me about it.**

**Zero: Pu-leazze. To you? She's complained to you a grand total of – ONCE.**

**Me: Calm down! I swear, you two are worse than Akari and Kuro!**

**Zero: Is shocked I'm nothing like that pompous braggart!**

**Kuro: Who says I'm a pompous braggart?**

**"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""**

"It's cold."

"Yes, Akari."

"And wet," muttered Akari mutinously

Kuro shook his head. "Well, it's the wettest and coldest place in the fire nation. Thank you for establishing that, Akari."

Akari scowled. "I hate the cold."

Kuro rolled his eyes. "And the wet. We've done this before, Akari."

Akari stuck her tongue out at him, flinging her newly dyed short blue-black hair out of her eyes. "Gee. I didn't know you were so observant," she said.

Kuro sighed. "You'd be surprised."

Over the past two days, they'd sulked in the alleys, watching the fire nation soldiers put up posters of their faces with former hairdos up on the village message boards. Now that the soldiers were gone, their appearances changed, they could venture out into the town, as sadly bedraggled and dirty as they were.

Akari poked her head out of the alley, glancing from side to side. "Come on," she said. She stepped out of the alley, pulling Kuro with her. "Stop acting like dead weight, or I'll make you dead weight," she threatened, dragging him out of the alley. The harsh sunlight hit her face like a physical blow. Flinching, she took a step back, wincing at the light. "The light. It _burns_," she remarked, squeezing her eyes closed.

Kuro smirked, having shaded his eyes when he came out. "Really? It doesn't hurt me."

Akari scowled, opened her eyes and jabbed him in the waist with her finger. "Oh, so now you're the invincible one?" she asked, sarcasm spicing her voice.

"If that's what you want to think," he responded infuriatingly.

Akari turned her back and closed her eyes. "Whatever," she said finally, digging in her bag.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm going to get us money." Eyes flashing with mock deviousness, she dug out a strange looking black case from her bag, took one look at Kuro's exasperated face, and burst out laughing.

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Ana stared at the golden egg in wonder. "I still can't believe we won it," she said, a dreamy tone on her voice.

Her mother shook her head. "You won it, Hun," she said fondly.

"I'm glad that you forced me to go with you. I had more fun than I've ever had in my entire life. Trumping the sprinkler incident."

Her mother chuckled. "Are you sure? That was hilarious…"

Ana shook her head. "It definitely trumped the sprinkler incident. I got to _act._ And I got paid for it. I mean, how much better could it get?"

Terra shrugged. "I wouldn't know. I never enjoyed it like you do." With that cryptic statement, she turned and began dusting with a fervor.

Ana-Marie raised her eyebrow, but stayed silent. Grabbing the broom in the corner, she began sweeping the dirt into a little, symmetrical pile when a banging sounded at the door.

"Ana-Marie Jeong! You are under arrest for crimes against the Fire Nation and other innocent persons!" an official, loud voice said at the door.

Ana paled.

Her mother swung around, glanced once at the door, then opened it silently. A troop of soldiers, well, trooped in, surrounding Ana. Casting a bewildered glance toward her mother, the guilty expression caught her off guard.

"I had to, Sweetheart," Terra whispered, looking at the floor.

A tear traced a shining tear down her cheek. "Why?" she said, her voice perfectly steady, but quiet, and jagged with pain.

Terra's eyes hardened. "I heard you helping that traitor escape. You and that boy. I didn't know who he was."

Ana's eyes widened with shock. "So, you –"

The soldier interrupted. "No talking. Here are the charges. Helping a traitor escape, apprehending an official Elite Recruiter," his voice droned on and on in a list that seemed to take forever, but in reality probably only took a few seconds.

Tears running down her face, she stared up at the sun, convinced that… Wait. Where were Akari and Kuro going? The next town over, right? A plan began to form in her head, and as they passed out of sight of her house and into the crowded marketplace, she placed it into action.

"Hey, um, LOOK, THE AVATAR!" she suddenly shrieked, pointing to a random place in the sky.

Heads everywhere turned away from her, including her guards'. Using that split second of distraction, she knocked one guy out of the way, diving into the milling crowd, looking up herself, blending with the crowd. Ducking through the crowd, a thought occurred to her. _This is too easy._ As if to answer her unthought-of mental impression, a soldier seemed to spring from the ground in front of her. He stared in shock for a moment, then dived at her, flame bursting from his hands.

Well, improvisation had its weaknesses… Dropping into a crouch, she blasted fire at her assailant, throwing him off guard for a second.

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Kuro stared at her like she was insane. "You mean you lugged that thing over miles of DIRT and MUD and STONES just to make money?"

Akari shrugged. "Do you have a better idea? At least I'm thinking ahead, mister impulsive."

Kuro snorted. "Mister impulsive? That's the _BEST_ you can do?"

"Don't even start, flower boy. I hate this as much as you do, if not more."

Kuro winced. "Anyway, it'll draw attention. Attention we don't need."

"Humph," Akari grunted, walking to the nearest crowded street corner. She opened the case and plucked out a wooden instrument reminiscent of the violin, with a slightly different shape in body and bow. Licking her lips, she picked up the bow, drawing it across the strings. A sweet sound erupted, between the sound of a flute and the normal violin. Her face smoothed out. "Still in tune," she remarked to herself, setting it into the case and cleaning off her hands and the inside of her neck with the inside of her cloak. She winced, as her hands were cut up from falling on a lot of sharp stones from their escape covered by the cloak of night. The only bad thing about night escapes was that you never could see where you were going. Picking up the Tsonga again, she began to pull it back and forth across the strings. What came was not perfect, but pretty all the same. Its sound soared across the ten feet surrounding her, making some stop. Two or three people gathered around her, and began clapping as she finished a song.

Yep, Akari hated performing, but she was darned good at it. She bowed smoothly, and one or two coins crashed into the case. Well, it was better than nothing. "Thank you!" she said, lifting the bow to the strings again.

Kuro shook his head. Well, she'd gotten a couple of coins. He took in her bedraggled appearance, her leggings stuck to her legs with dried mud, her tunic in much the same condition, her skin a few shades darker, and her newly dyed hair tangled and matted.

A young woman from the two or three tossed another coin into the case and stepped forward. "What's your name?" she asked, a worrisome wrinkle creasing her forehead.

Akari opened her mouth and shut it. "Aela," she blurted out quickly.

Kuro wound his hand in his hair and groaned.

The woman turned. "And who's your friend?"

Kuro stepped forward, smiling naturally. "I'm Lee. Lee Uzak. This is my sister."

The woman nodded. "Do you have anywhere to go?" she asked kindly.

Akari cast her gaze down. "No," she whispered, playing off her ragged appearance.

The woman smiled. "I'm Tessa Fuin. Why don't you go home with me? I can at least give you a bath and a hot meal."

_Uh, not what I was wanting. _She thought, surprised. Akari took a step back, apprehensive. "Uh, that sounds great, but…"

Kuro came to stand beside her. "I think we should go."

Shock crossed Akari's face. "Who are you and what have you done with Lee?" she asked, suspicion in her voice.

"He got kidnapped by the Water Tribe," he said offhandedly. Turning to the woman, he smiled. "We'd like to accept your invitation."

The woman stared hard at Kuro's face. "You seem familiar to me, somehow. Oh well. Come, follow me," she said, beckoning with one hand. She began to lead them through the maze of streets that was Veroy. "Ver's a little hard to navigate, but still workable," the young woman said amiably.

Akari began to feel more and more conspicuous as they passed into richer and richer parts of town. "I don't feel good about this, Kuro," she whispered to Kuro, after jerking him down to her level.

Kuro sighed. "I think I know who this woman is, and if I'm right, then she's safe." He gave her a crooked half-smile. "And if I'm not, then we can get out easily enough."

Akari sighed, looking to the side. "Fine," she said, her hand curling into a fist for a brief second. "I trust you, K- Lee."

"I know."

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Ana-Marie ducked into a crouch, swinging one leg up. Startled, the soldier stumbled to the side. Whatever he'd expected, it wasn't for her to fight back with firebending. Punching another wave of fire at her, he ducked to the side automatically.

Ana took the fire he threw at her and, after catching it with bending, shot it right back. The fire roiled up into his face. A young face. Not much older than hers. Using his moment of blindness, she ducked back into the crowd. She'd chosen a good place to make her break, near the city gates. Ducking through them with nimbleness, she crashed into the woods quickly. She glanced behind her for a mere second, and in that second, her foot slipped. She crashed down into the same river that Kuro and Akari had used to escape before. Making double time, she hurtled down the ravine, running amok. _I've got to go as fast as I can if I'm going to catch_ _Akari and Kuro, or at least find them in that huge city_, she thought glumly. Her feet kept going, however, through the icy mud and stony pebbles.

In only a few hours, she had made the city gates. She staggered toward them, then stopped. When a group of dirty travelers came along the road, she merged herself among them. The guards hardly noticed as they waved the group through.

Ana-Marie was now faced with a metropolis ten times bigger, dirtier, and different than her small, but prosperous hometown. Going over to a wall, she collapsed, burying her face in her dirty skirt. Tears streaked clean paths down her dirty cheeks. Pulling the kerchief off her head, she wiped her face with it, wincing as the rougher cloth scraped over slight abrasions on her face. More tears trickled down her cheeks, making them sting more. Flipping over the kerchief to a clean side, she was gently dabbing at her dirty, salty, stinging cheeks when a familiar voice washed over her.

"Ana-Marie?" came Zero's voice, full of worried surprise.

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Now dressed in clean clothes, washed, and fed, Akari sat on a comfortable chair, muttering, "_House_. They call it a _**house**_. _Mansion_ is more the word."

Though clean, she looked nothing like the flexible dancer of the party two nights before. Her once-blonde hair and eyebrows, dyed an almost unnatural blue-black with calligraphy ink, gave no inkling to blondness. Her clothes were a soft harvest orange, tinged with red and edged with green, consisting of a long tunic and tight leggings that were more tights than other things. As always, she was barefoot. The orange made her eyes a sharp golden yellow. Kuro stepped in, in a red tunic and dark brown leggings, tied at the waist with a strip of leather. His hair was now neatly brushed and combed.

What made them different, was the age of their looks. Their faces were somehow older than they had been two nights ago. Both of them had numerous scrapes, cuts and bruises on their arms, hands, legs, and faces. Akari's eyes were sharper, and, of course, a different color than they had been.

Kuro sighed and sat next to her. "I know you don't trust her, but I think I know who she is."

Akari gave him an exasperated look. "And who would that be?" she asked in a bored tone.

Rolling his eyes, Kuro said, "My sister, Akari. The one that married well and moved away a few years ago?"

Akari's eyes widened. "Around the time I met you, if I remember right."

Kuro nodded. "And she feels the way we do. You made the philosophy, but she's also seen things. She's lived on the bad sides of town and the good. She understands. She'll never turn us in."

Akari nodded. "Okay, but are you sure it's her?"

Kuro just quirked the side of his mouth and raised an eyebrow.

At this moment, 'Tessa' walked in. "Oh, I'm glad you got washed up –" she stopped suddenly, staring at Kuro hard. "Kuro?" she asked, her voice trembling slightly. "Brother?"

Kuro smiled, a warm, slightly smirking smile. "Hello Sarai. I thought I'd drop in for a visit."

Sarai stared for a moment, then began to laugh. "Running from the Fire Nation, little brother?" she asked through laughter.

Kuro sighed. "Darn. I thought the visiting ruse would trick you," he said in a playful, bantering voice.

Akari shook her head in wonder. "It's amazing. I mean, the ancestors know how many people in this city, and one of the first people we run into is Kuro's SISTER."

Sarai nodded. "It truly is. So, what is your name, young lady? You said another name before, but I'm pretty sure you were lying. Kuro did, so I'm just guessing…"

"Akari Hitami." Rolling her eyes, she continued, "I'm the reason we're running at the moment."

Sarai smiled warmly. "Why don't you tell your story over a hot meal. It looks like you had a harrowing escape." She sat down and brought her fist down on the armrest of her unfortunate chair. "And then we'll talk concealment."

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Ana lifted her head. "Zero?"

"Shhh," he hissed, offering a hand. "Call me Lee."

Ana glowered. "You're slumming again, aren't you?"

Zero laughed. "Nope, I'm looking for our friends. They should have been here two days ago." He frowned. "Why are you here," he gestured at her disheveled appearance, "and dressed like that?"

Ana bit her lip to keep it from trembling. "I… I…" she bit down on her lip harder. A tear trickled down her cheek. "I can't talk about it," she whispered, releasing her lip, which now had teeth marks making a half-moon on her reddened bottom lip.

Zero's eyes widened. "Oh no." He came to her side and put an arm around her shoulders, pulling her into a loose side hug. "It's really bad, isn't it?" he asked softly.

Ana broke down, sobbing. She went limp in Zero's arms, burying her face in his shoulder.

Zero held her up and began leading her away. After about ten feet, he realized that she wouldn't be able to walk anymore. Offering her a handkerchief, he led her over to a bench and sat her down. She lifted her head off his shoulder and buried her face in it. "Sorry," she said quietly after her sobs had stopped. "Yeah, it's really bad." She rubbed her eye with the heel of one hand.

Zero looked down. "What happened?" he asked, his voice low.

Ana looked away. "Well, after I won the golden egg, I went home and for a couple of days, things were okay. I was cleaning, before school, and a troop of soldiers half knocked down my door. Mom just…" she choked back a sob before continuing, "she just let them in. And… Before I left, she… she…" She bit her lips to keep from whimpering, then decided to push the story out as fast as she could. "And she told me she'd turned me in." A traitor tear traced a path down her already streaked, smudged face. "She overheard us in the room. She was serving. She heard me in there. She turned me in." She started sobbing again.

Zero looked at her. She looked like a drowned cat, her brown-and-copper curls tangled and wet, with some strands wet to straightness, matted with mud and plants, her clothes caked with mud, covered with scrapes and bruises. Not to mention that she was now kind of dirt-colored instead of her usual warmer caramel shade.

He stood, and pulled her to her feet, then picked her up, bridal style. She buried her face in his shoulder and just cried. Nonetheless, he took the alleyway route back to his house. As they approached the back, Ana tapped him on the shoulder. "You can let me down now," she said, her voice still trembling. He set her down, took her firmly by the hand, and led her into the house. Taking a servant by the arm, he whispered something in the servant's ear. "Go find my mother," he whispered, guiding Ana-Marie to his side.

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" – And then you found Akari playing Tsonga in the street," Kuro finished with a definitive nod.

Akari sighed. "And he makes me look like an idiot. Just so you know; he didn't know what direction north was."

Kuro growled, "I did, and I was just slightly… tired."

Akari sighed. "We would have ended up at the Western Air Temple if I let you lead."

Kuro rolled his eyes. "That's on the other side of the country."

"No it's not. Kuro, with your sense of direction, you'll end up in the Northern Water Tribe and think it was the Fire Lord's palace," said his sister with a light laugh.

Kuro stood swiftly. "Sarai, where's Dom?" he asked, glancing at the door.

Sarai smiled fondly. "He's at work. He'll be back later."

Kuro nodded. "Well, at least he thinks like we do."

Akari sighed. "When you say, 'we do' I'm supposing in regards to the Fire Nation?"

Kuro's eyes were hard. "That's exactly what I mean."

"Okay. That's good. Now let's talk concealment," said Sarai simply.

Akari furrowed her brow. "Okay. Well, we need to contact Zero. He's good on the plan side of things. And we need an alibi. As in, why we're here and why we're covered with bruises."

Sarai smiled. "I've got the alibi covered. I told the servants that Kuro's my cousin and you're his friend and that your parents sent you here from the capital to go to school, but you ran into trouble on the road, lost your escort, and had to jump into a river to keep from getting followed." She squinted. "Do you follow me?"

Akari opened her mouth, and then closed it.

Kuro applauded. "That's good. Very good. And believable. You're as good as ever with the storytelling, Sarai." He shook his head. "I'd never be able to do that."

"Wow. Kuro admitting he has a flaw. Can someone record this moment? Gimme some paper," she said sarcastically, smirking.

Kuro whacked her on the head.

Sarai looked between them and laughed. "Well, to keep with the story, you need to enroll in a school."

Akari blinked. "School?" she repeated blankly.

Kuro leaned forward. "I've got a name. A friend that helped us escape told us to look for him there. He can give up help."

Sarai raised an eyebrow. "Who would that be?"

"Lee Kamanci," he replied, smiling.

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Ana had regained most of her composure by the time Zero's mother had come in, her hands fluttering.

"Who is this, Lee darling?" she asked in a sweet voice, eyeing Ana with disapproval.

Zero sighed. "She's a friend, mother. Her mother lives in the next town and…" he paused, attempting to think up a story."

Ana took up the story. "M-my mother kicked me out of the house. She's not really my mother, she's my stepmother, and… and…" she sniffled pathetically, "and so when daddy died, she said that she didn't want me, and kicked me out of the house." She finished her well-done acting performance with a flood of tears. "So, I went away, and got lost, and finally ended up here. Lee recognized me from a party that I was at with him and said that he would help me out." She lifted big, teary eyes to Zero's mother.

Zero's mother softened immediately. "Oh, you poor dear," she said, patting Ana's head. Calling to a servant, she said, "See that," she paused. "What's your name, dear?" she asked kindly.

Ana paused. "Kai Takete," she said normally.

Zero's mother smiled warmly. "Take Kai to the baths and see that she gets new clothes," she ordered. A female servant nodded and came over to "Kai". "Miss Kai, please follow me. I will show you the way to the baths."

Ana followed the maid out of the room. Wordlessly, the maid showed her into a bathroom.

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Kuro's sister burst out laughing. "You don't know Lee Kamanci. It just doesn't happen to poor boys who follow around gypsy parties."

Kuro smirked.

Akari sighed. "We know him. He was one of the ones that helped us escape from the recruiter, along with the girl."

Sarai's mouth dropped open. "W-well, then," she said, her eyes wide, "Tell me the name of the school. We're rich enough to enroll you in any school in the fire nation.

Akari's eyes widened. "The Academy for Excellent Schooling. Sounds official, doesn't it?" she asked.

Sarai blinked. "Well, that's relatively easy. Ten or so of their students dropped out to join the army a week and a half ago."

"Where did you learn that?" Kuro asked.

"Dom works there, smart one," Sarai answered.

Akari frowned. "That's a bit convenient, is it not?" she asked, suspicion in her voice.

Kuro sighed. "Believe it or not, Akari, there is not an enemy around every corner."

Akari, seething, opened her eyes wide. "Really, Kuro? I _never_ knew that," she said sarcastically.

Sarai smacked her forehead. "While you two fight your verbal battle, I will go and find Dom, who should be back _any second_," she said darkly.

Kuro raised his hands in mock defeat. "Alright, alright, older sister. We shall behave like naught but the most gracious of guests while in your house… Most of the time. Right, Akari?" he asked, winking.

Akari nodded, brushing a stray wisp of hair out of her eyes. "Naught, Milady," she said, superpolite.

Sarai shook her head in amazement. "I give up. You two are impossible. One moment you're almost at each other's throats, and the next you're working together like I've seen no one."

"It's a talent, isn't it, Kuro?"

"Talent? No, we've just been stuck together for so long, I'm starting to read your mind."

"Really, Kuro? What am I thinking."

"Something derogatory about me, I suppose."

Akari smirked. "Exactly. Gee, however did you guess?"

"As I said, reading minds is a recently developed talent of mine," Kuro responded smugly.

Akari muttered something unintelligible.

Sarai was now laughing so hard she could hardly breathe. "You – two – are – hilariously – impossible!" she gasped through laughter.

Kuro and Akari, who were at the moment glowering at each other, couldn't help laughing themselves.

At this moment, a tall, handsome man with dark brown hair and laughing brown eyes walked into the room. He took a sweep of the room, and shook his head. "I leave you alone for seven hours, and here you are, laughing yourself to death!" He began to laugh himself. "What am I going to do with you, my darling," he asked, loping over and tugging playfully on the end of Sarai's braid.

Kuro sighed. "Sarai, weren't you going to enroll us?" he hinted.

Sarai batted away her husband's hand, smiled nodded. "About that. Dom, we need to enroll Kuro and Akari at the school. Under different names. They're in hiding."

Dom nodded seriously, and took his wife by the hand. "Let's go now. I'll get you in, but be ready to go tomorrow. Try to get them uniforms, Sarai."

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Ana dragged herself downstairs to breakfast, as it was almost seven of the next day. What had happened that day was still heavy on her mind, and she was in a kind of stupor. She'd surfaced for a few seconds, enough to get her a place in this house, but now, though most of the dirt was gone, there was a haunted, faraway look on her face.

Zero took one look at her face and sighed. "Mum's enrolling you at my school. It's really the best cover for you. We're saying that you are my mother's friends daughter, come to go to school with me, as your mother just kicked you out and you have no where else to go. You'll go to school with me this morning, okay?" he asked, staring intently into her eyes, as if he was trying to find her under her shell of shock and grief.

Ana nodded dumbly, not really hearing.

Zero sighed.

Ana shook herself visibly. "Alright, Zero. I hear ya. Where's the uniform?" she asked, holding her hands out as if to be shackled.

"Over here," came the voice of a servant who led Ana up to her room and got her into it.

Zero hopped up the staircase, and when Ana was done, he was somehow magically lounging outside her door, already dressed. "How do you _do_ that?" she asked crossly.

Zero shrugged. "Eh, I try. You look nice," he said easily.

Ana raised an eyebrow. "I leave you for ten minutes, and now you're trying to flirt with me? What are you trying to do, sign your own death warrant? I am a dangerous criminal," she said, poking him hard on the arm. He groaned in mock pain. "Let us go, dangerous criminal, before we are late for school?" he asked, proffering his arm.

Laughing, Ana took it and they walked out of the door, snagging a couple of meat pastries on the way out.

Though trying her best, (and mostly succeeding,) to banish the faraway look in her eyes, she could not completely eradicate the haunted look in her face.

Zero pursed his lips and tugged her gently toward a giant, black gate and a group of uniform-clad students. "Our class is over here."

An unfamiliar black-haired girl was talking to a tall, dark, boy who looked slightly familiar.

"New students," muttered Zero.

The girl jabbed the boy angrily in the waist and turned toward Zero, meeting his eyes. Her eyes, a coppery amber-red, widened.

"Zero?" she asked incredulously, then reached out a hand. Dropping her voice, she stepped forward, close to Zero and Ana-Marie. "It's me," she whispered, "Akari. I dyed my hair. Kuro is over there, but our names are Aela and Lee here, so be careful to address us as so…" She stopped for a moment, and stared. "Ana-"

Zero clapped a hand over her mouth. "She's not supposed to be here either. She's Kai here."

Kuro strolled over. "Well, it seems fate has destined us to be together," he said, raising an eyebrow.

Ana walked over and touched the gate, walking away from the others.

Akari followed her, while Zero looked on helplessly. "What's wrong?" she whispered, touching her friend's arm.

Without further ado, Ana-Marie Jeong flung herself into her friend's arms and began to sob.

**A/N: REVIEWREVIEWREVIEWREVIEW!! **


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter one

**Chapter Four**

**A/N: Okay, so I finally updated! Yay! This was a hard chapter for me to write, as it's sort of filler. I know it's not great, but then again, I'm not the greatest writer. SO… In case anyone actually reads this thing… (Which I highly doubt, as for the lack of reviews,) I WILL get to the Gaang. Once I finish with the preparations, things are going to get interesting… BTW, In case he ever reads it, (Which I highly doubt, don't even think he reads fanfiction,) I modeled Kuro after a friend I will never forget. See ya at Pre-Regional Qualifiers, my friend!**

Akari looked up at Zero, raising one eyebrow. "You'd better explain this later," she mouthed silently. Zero nodded, looking sheepish.

Pushing her hand through Ana-Marie's curly, dark brown hair, she hugged her friend tightly, whispering, "It'll be alright… You'll be okay."

Kuro sighed. "We really are bad at that, aren't we."

"Bad at what?"

"The whole comforting without asking questions thing."

"Oh. Yeah. I asked questions."

Kuro rolled his eyes. "Akari tried to explain this to me once. Something about, 'people don't want you to ask questions. Most of the time, they're incapable of telling you. You just need to…' And I forgot what she said after that. Ah well."

Zero gave a half-laugh. "Yep, we're pretty much useless in that section."

Akari gave them an exasperated look. "This is _not_ the moment," she hissed, glaring a hole into their foreheads.

Both boys slunk out of range of her burning gaze "I'm guessing that means get the heck out of this situation with your insensitive comments," said Zero, glancing behind him warily. "I'd be scared if she was ever really mad at me."

Kuro sighed. "Trust me, it's not pleasant."

Zero nodded. "Don't get Aela mad. Rule One."

"Amen," came a mocking voice from behind them.

Both boys spun.

"Oh crap," muttered Zero.

Akari rocked Ana-Marie back and forth quietly, not saying a word, until she quieted down a few moments later. "Sorry," she whispered, pulling away from the hug.

Akari smiled and tugged playfully on one of Ana's curls. "Don't apologize," she said. "Anytime you need me."

Ana looked the shorter girl straight in the eyes. "Thanks, I'll repay the favor, someday."

"Deal."

Laughing through tears, Ana hooked her arm around Akari's. "Thanks for getting the boys away. What did you do?"

"Gave 'em the death stare. It works every time." Smirking, Akari continued. "But I have a feeling that we need to find them before Kuro starts another war. Things like that tend to happen around him."

"Really?" Ana asked as they headed in the direction the boys had taken.

"Go away, Tern."

"What if I don't wanna, pretty boy?" Tern asked, a mean tone in his voice.

"You'll go anyway," came Kuro's quiet, darker tone. Zero laid a hand on his arm, to the jeers of surrounding students.

"I will? Well, you just back off, you," Tern cut himself off, launching himself at Kuro's face, one fist extended.

Akari came to a stop before the crowd. "Wherever you are, Karma person, I didn't mean it," Akari muttered, glancing at Ana. "Gotta break this up. Goodness knows, K- I mean, Lee will beat the guy up."

Ana raised an eyebrow. "Well, I don't know. What if you get hurt?"

Akari gave her an exasperated look. "I wasn't searched by the Elite for nothing, Kai," she said, flinging herself into the crowd.

Zero gave a laugh. "Break it up," he said, his voice slightly hysterical.

Tern was already to far into the punch when something caught his fist and twisted it to the side. To his surprise, there was an almost insubstantial girl who had caught his punch and diverted it. And she didn't even rub her hand. She simply squeezed his hand so that he felt pain for a moment, then dropped it, stepping back by Kuro.

"I'm sorry," Akari said with a frightening, absolute calm, "but I believe that you were saying something?"

Tern stared at her for a second, then blinked. "Who are you?"

Akari raised one eyebrow. "That wasn't it."

Tern laughed. "Get out of the way, sweetheart. Wouldn't want that pretty face to get hurt," he said, reaching out with one hand to stroke her cheek.

Kuro's hand flashed out and grabbed Tern's.

"What, protecting your girlfriend?" taunted Tern.

Ana-Marie shouldered her way through the crowd to the center. "Stop!" she said desperately.

"You've got _two_ girlfriends, new kid?" A mocking smile grew on Tern's face. "Not bad for being here for five minutes." He swung toward Ana-Marie. "And what's your name, pretty one?" he asked maliciously.

With that, Ana-Marie punched him in the face. Not with her fist, of course, but with fire.

Tern reeled back, his face unburned. "Hey, hey!" he said, beckoning to a few burly-looking boys in the crowd.

"Oh, crap," Zero repeated.

Akari narrowed his eyes, already mapping her way out of the situation.

Ana charged forward, fire on her fingertips. Two of the boys also were firebenders, plus Tern. "No one talks to me like that," she hissed, twisting her hand, a stream of fire coming out.

Akari leaped forward, between Ana's fire and the boys, redirecting the fire into the air. "Not now, Kai," she said, still cold, turned toward Ana. Tern touched the back of her neck. Her eyes narrowed and she spun, kicking up. Her foot caught underneath the boy's chin, knocking him flat on the pavement. Her burning eyes narrowed. "Then again, I might just make an exception in this case" she said, taking a fighting stance.

Kuro sighed and stepped beside Akari. "Now now," he said, gesturing with his hand. "No need to fight." His own eyes narrowed. "Not here, anyway. Tonight, outside the city gates.

Tern glanced from side to side and laughed. "You're on, new boy," he said.

"What did you _do_?" Asked Ana, finally, after half an hour of gaping at Akari, while they were on their way to their first class.

Akari looked up. "Hm?"

Ana sighed. "What did you do? How could you do that? You don't look all that dangerous. Where do you hide the muscle?"

Akari rolled her eyes. "I caught his punch, and when people got weird, I knocked a guy onto the ground. I did it because I have noble instincts. I know I don't look dangerous, that's what makes me all the more dangerous. And I have no idea."

Ana, once again, subsided into silence as they entered their first class.

"What do you have to say for yourself, Master Lee?" came the male teacher's stern voice.

Kuro looked him in the eye. "Only that Tern began to reach for one of my good friends, and I stopped him."

Tern rubbed underneath his chin. "He's right," he said ruefully. "It wasn't him who knocked me down. It was his girlfriend."

Kuro half-turned toward him. "And you deserved it, donkey-boy."

Tern glared. "I didn't do anything, and she just knocked me down, easy as that."

The man turned. "I will look into this."

Tern turned on Kuro. "Listen, Lee, whoever you are, I will see you after school, outside the city gates. I was thinking of skipping, but now I realize that this is much too good to pass up. See you later," he spat the next word out through his teeth. "_Lee_."

The teacher scratched a problem on the board. "Anyone know this offhand?" she asked, not expecting an answer

_Nine hundred and fifty-four, _Akari thought, raising her hand.

The teacher looked surprised for a moment, then pointed. "Miss Aela?"

"Nine hundred and fifty-four," she answered instantly.

The teacher stopped, her mouth dropping open. "Well– yes. How did you figure that out?"

Akari shrugged. "I did it in my head."

The teacher blinked. "In your _head?_"

Akari bit back a sarcastic comment. "Yes ma'am. It's relatively simple."

The teacher blinked. "Oh. You've seen this problem before?" she asked, tapping the charcoal on the white slab of marble that served as the 'board'.

Akari shook her head. "No. I just did it in my head."

The teacher blinked again, several times. "What about this one?" she asked, drawing another one quickly.

"Thirty-five divided by five X," Akari answered instantly.

Dropping her charcoal on her desk, she walked forward. "Can you do this with all math?"

"Most of the time. When they start dealing out the triangles, though, I have to write the problems out on paper. It's not hard, though. I just can't see the triangles in my head."

The teacher struggled for words. "Well… I… I… I don't know what to say. I'll talk to the headmaster about moving you up in math classes…" she muttered while walking out of the class, clearly in a daze.

The class stared in shock at Akari, minus Ana. A pretty girl, with hair as dark as Akari's dyed hair, but with a darker skin tone and chocolaty-brown eyes came up to the table.

"You're Aela Kazu?" she asked.

"No, I'm a renegade cow-monkey," retorted Akari. A ripple of laughter followed her statement.

The girl looked flustered for a moment, then recovered her composure. "You're the girl who knocked Tern down by the gate."

Akari rolled her eyes. Did these people have no original statements? "Shyepp," she answered nonchalantly.

The girl slammed her hand down on the table. "Now you listen, new girl. I'm the queen here, with the girls. Either you listen to me, or be ostracized for the rest of your time at this school. Get it? Now, I have a command."

Akari sighed. "Well, I'm not listening, as I have to get to History class, and _I_ have not the slightest intention of being late. Savvy?"

The girl's eyes narrowed. "Are you insulting me?"

Ana stepped up. "What did you think she was doing, backflips? Of course she was insulting you."

Akari smirked. "Thank you for clearing that up, Kai. Now…" she hooked her elbow around Ana's and they sauntered out of the room. Stunned silence and sporadic applause followed them.

Once out of the room, the girls broke out laughing. "Did you see the look on her face," Ana choked out, "when you said the bit about the cow-monkey?"

Akari grinned. "Do cow-monkeys even exist?" she said, laughing.

Ana stopped, a look of intense concentration on her face. "I'm not sure."

Zero and Kuro raced into the nearly-empty lunchroom. "You didn't tell me – " Kuro gasped, "That hanging out with you could cause bodily harm!" he finished, as they leaned against a table.

"Isn't my fault I've got rabid fangirls," muttered Zero.

"It isn't?" asked Kuro, a slight teasing note in his voice.

Zero flushed. "Okay, slightly my fault. But –"

Zero was interrupted by a collective scream from thirteen or so girls. "THERE HE IS!" they shrieked, surrounding the two boys. A babble of incoherent admiration arose from the group.

Kuro chuckled, indivertibly drawing a few stares.

"Zero, who's that?" said a voice, rising above the babble

Zero paused. "This is my friend…" He paused, then smirked. Silence fell as the crowd waited breathlessly for his next words. "This is my friend Dark."

There was a pause, in which Kuro glared impressively at Zero with the, 'I'm not going to kill you now because there are people, but stay away from dark alleys,' look.

There was a pause of contemplation. Then there was a slight sigh. "He's really cute," came a voice from the back, one of the less-rabid Zero fangirls. There was a murmur of agreement from about half the crowd, though the other half had their eyes fastened onto Zero's sky-blue eyes.

Zero chuckled evilly.

Kuro slipped into line, with about four girls following him. With a sigh, he turned. _So I have a fan-club. Great. Akari is never going to let me forget this._ He then shook his head violently, ran a hand though his hair, and surveyed the four girls collected around him. "Hello, ladies," he said finally, "May I have your names?"

Akari and Ana-Marie took that opportune moment to enter the lunchroom, and stopped dead. Ana-Marie had gotten a good look at the intriguing Zero-and-His-Fangirls relationship, but they both stopped dead at the sight of Kuro.

With _fangirls_.

Akari burst out laughing, and Ana just stared in shock. "Shoulda – guessed – this – would – happen," Akari gasped through laughter. Ana gave her a queer look. "Why is that?' she asked. Akari shook her head. "Girls have always thrown themselves at Kuro. Personally, I can't see why, but it's hilarious anyway." Ana looked away, muttering something under her breath.

Akari slipped into line next to Kuro. Hi Lee, can I stand here?" she asked, a teasing smile on her face that was immediately received by the glares of the rabid fangirls. It vanished.

Kuro nodded quickly, but didn't miss the smirk on Akari's face. He raised an eyebrow at her, to which she answered with the twitching of her lips that usally meant suppressed laughter for Akari. They'd known each other for so long they could communicate basically without words.

The foremost of the fangirls stepped foreward. "Oh, it's you," Akari said, rolling her eyes with annoyance. "Great, my first enemy is the leader of my brother's fanclub. This is wonderful," she said with an exasperated tone.

The girl's mouth was half-open. "Dark is your _brother?_" she asked.

Akari gave a half-laugh. "Dark?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at Kuro. "Not really. We've been stuck together so much, though, we might as well be. We're not _together_ though." She made a disgusted face. "He's incorrigible."

The girl struggled for a moment. "Incorrigible?" she finally asked. "I don't think so."

Akari laughed. "Do you even know what that word means?"

Ana sighed. "Incorrigible: Impossible or very difficult to correct or reform."

"Thank you," came the girl bitterly. "Now I do."

"Have you ever had a prolonged conversation with him? Then you'd understand," said Akari, amused.

Now the girl looked confused. "I… I'll see you later, Dark," she said hurriedly, rushing toward the doors, followed by the new Dark fan club.

Ana jumped at the feel of a hand on her shoulder. She spun hurriedly to see Kuro behind her. "Thank you," he said, his dark voice rippling across her. "I think you and Akari, in conjunction, confused her. And most likely Akari angered her. She has a talent there."

Ana laughed. Kuro was so easy to be around. One second, he completely dazzled you with a look and his refined, measured words, then made you feel totally at ease with a randomly-placed absolutely hilarious comment. "True. She's also a good friend, however."

Kuro nodded in agreement. "She's like my little sister. She gets on my nerves so much it is actually kind of funny." He raised an eyebrow and picked up a tray. "So are you going to get some food or not?" he asked.

Ana blinked rapidly for a moment, then picked up a tray. "Yeah…" she said, half-dreamily.

Akari watched the two of them and shook her head, smiling. Smitten. Both of them. It was so… cute! Interrupting her musings, Zero dashed in line in front of her. "He-ey," she said, poking him in the back.

"Ow!" he said, then glanced around warily. "Well, it looks as if my fanclub has joined the back of the line, so I can relax." He suddenly snickered. "Did you see K – I mean, Lee's fanclub?" he asked, looking positively evil.

Akari rolled her eyes. "You set that up?" she asked.

"Nope, it was completely on the improv," he said lightly.

"How did you do it?" asked Akari curiously.

This led Zero into a five-minute detailed description of the moment, which, in reality, took about thirty seconds.

By the time he was winding down to the end of it, Akari was blinking confusedly. "I… see?" she said, interrupting his explanation of the reasoning behind the moment.

Zero picked up a tray and bonked her on the head with it. "No you don't, you're only saying that to make me shut up," he accused.

Akari attempted to duck the tray but failed. "Okay, I admit, I was doing that. But really, I get the basic idea."

"Of course you do," he said, rolling his eyes.

She stuck her tongue out at him. "Fine. Whatever. Would 'please shut up' work better?" she asked.

Zero shook his head. "Oh, I have to ask you something," he said.

Akari gave him an exasperated look. "What are you waiting for, my permission?"

Not acknowledging that statement, Zero launched into his question. "Undoubtably, you've heard the teachers informing you about the party that Jetnes family is holding? In every class?"

Akari nodded. "Go on."

"Well, you see, I have a fanclub of many girls who have been pestering me to ask them to it for about a week, and…" he lowered his voice, "No offences to them, but most of them are complete bubbleheads."

"Get back to the point."

"Well, I was wondering if you would go with me. As a friend, I mean, just so I can tell them I've already got a date."

Akari was stunned. She hadn't expected this. Not at all. She'd expected him to ask her for advice on which girl to ask or something to that extent. Not….

"Okay," she said simply, then mentally smacked herself.

"Okay?" he asked, his blue eyes hopeful.

"Yeah, okay," she said, then immediately changed the subject. "Hey, what food here is good, and what isn't?" she asked hurriedly, looking at the massive array of food.

Zero sighed, leading her through the basic list of edible/not edible foods on the buffet.

The fantastic four (as Zero had so dynamically named them,) left the school chattering, though both Zero and Akari did not mention the "date" to Kuro. After lunch, Akari had advised Zero to let her break it to him. "He's like my father, or older brother, almost," she had said, with a wary glance toward Kuro. Zero had agreed, as he had seen Kuro almost in a rage exactly once, and at that time the guy whom Kuro had been angry at had gotten knocked out and wrapped in a carpet.

As they entered Zero's house, they were immediately ushered into a room with one man in it. Zero gulped.

"Hello, Father," he said, his face slowly draining of color.

In the next half-hour, the rest of the group winced at alternate intervals as Zero's father berated him about his grades, (he'd gotten a B in music,) his social life, friends, and slumming habits, (Which, though she felt sorry for Zero, Ana agreed with Mister Kamanci heartily,) and, most curiously, his fighting progress.

As they left, Zero was still pale, but had a slightly defiant look around his lips and eyes. Akari approached him, pity in her eyes, but Ana held her back, something slightly knowing in her eyes. "Don't look sorry for him. It will just embarrass him more," muttered Kuro to the two girls. Zero didn't hear.

They entered Zero's room, still silent. Zero turned, and Akari swiftly wiped any traces of pity from her face.

"I'm sorry you had to hear that," said Zero in a slightly dead voice.

"Don't be."

He looked at them all. "Why not," he said, still in that almost-dead voice.

"Because it's not your fault," said Akari.

Zero looked at her, then sat down suddenly in a chair. "You don't have to make me feel good. I know he was right."

"That's not true," said Kuro. Everyone looked at him in surprise. "I've seen you. You're not a failure. You're strong… Lee."

Zero stood. "You really think that?" he asked, his voice more alive now.

Kuro nodded.

Zero's face softened slightly from that defiant set, and he turned, staring out the window.

Akari glanced at Kuro. His dark eyes squinted at her, trying to read what she had to say. She sent him a pleading glance. He nodded slightly. Akari stepped forward and jerked her head slightly, motioning for the others to leave the room. Kuro touched Ana's shoulder. The two turned and left the room, leaving Akari and Zero alone.

Akari stood behind him, softly, composing herself for a moment, then tugged gently on his wrist. He turned, sluggishly, to look down at her upturned amber eyes. Akari took a deep breath. _I'm the only one that can help him,_ she thought, _because I know exactly how he feels._ "Listen," she started, "You gave information that would save my life, even at the cost of your own. You helped me escape, though that may have been then end of your own freedom. You and Ana stalled for time when I had none. You were willing to give up everything you knew to save me, a perfect stranger. You're not weak. You're not a failure." A tear traced a shining path down her cheek. "I'm the one who ran, while I let you risk your life. I destroyed Ana's, and…" Her words choked off. "And you never ran. You never wavered. You're stronger than an earthbender…" She swallowed. "You're no zero, Lee."

Zero's jaw trembled slightly and he lifted his head and turned his face away.

Akari looked down and wiped the tear from her cheek, choking back more tears before stepping away from him. "I'll give you some privacy," she whispered when she could talk. She turned toward the door.

Zero reached out and grabbed her wrist. "Wait," he choked out.

Surprised, Akari turned. She nodded and stopped, not quite looking at him.

A struggle was taking place on Zero's face. He finally let go of control, bursting into silent, racking sobs. Akari felt tears running down her own face, and, not really thinking, she took the few steps separating them and wrapped her arms around his waist, her arms tightening around him.

Zero looked down with slight surprise, but put his arms around her and buried his face in her hair, his tears soaking the top of her head. They remained like that for a solid minute. When both of their tears had stopped, Akari pulled away slightly, her face still wet with tears.

Zero smiled weakly. "Thank you. You have no idea what that means."

Akari smirked. "Maybe I do. You forget, but for the past four years, my best friend has been a guy," she said in a weak voice, half-hiccuping.

Zero shook his head. "No, trust me, you don't."

"I don't?"

"It's not something a girl could understand."

Akari looked questioning for a moment, then shook her head. "Well, let's get cleaned up. We can say you pushed me into the sink or something," she said, pointing at her head.

Zero smirked. "I actually could, you know."

Akari sighed. "Fine. Have fun fabricating the evidence."

After five minutes, they had sufficiently fabricated the evidence. Zero had, as a matter of fact, pushed her head into the sink, and she'd head-butted him in the place where her tears had soaked his shirt. (Which was, by the way, had not been part of the plan) When they both emerged, Akari scowling and dripping, and Zero laughing at her and dripping, Kuro and Ana looked up in surprise.

"What took you guys so long?" asked Ana.

Kuro raised an eyebrow. "Yes. What?"

Akari glared at Zero. "This intelligent person, as I was washing my hands, shoved me into the sink and dumped the pitcher of water on my head. Then I chased him around the room and head-butted him. I think that was appropriate punishment."

Ana rolled her eyes. "You two can be so childish."

Kuro simply glanced at them, doubts apparently assuaged… on the surface.

Zero handed Akari a hand towel from the bathroom and laughed as she buried her head in it. "You look so funny when you do that."

"Not my fault."

"Come on. Kuro and I did a bit of exploring while you two were having a water-fight. There's a sitting room here," Ana said, flouncing down the hallway.

As they entered, Akari was surprised to find a mostly plain sitting room filled with many, many fishbowls. "Wow. Fish." She said, stating the obvious.

They all settled into individual chairs around a little glass table. Kuro started. "Well, you see, that guy, Tern, is going to meet me outside the city gates and –"

Akari sighed. "We all heard what you said. Who's your second."

Kuro rolled his eyes. "You, of course. I mean, seriously, who else would I give my seconding too?"

Akari shrugged. "Good point. I mean, I can beat even you in training."

"Not true," Kuro chided.

"Okay, not always, but I can beat you."

Kuro threw up his hands. "What monster have I created?" he asked no one in particular.

Ana chortled. "A scary one."

Kuro glared. "You're going to get as annoying as Akari."

Looking very innocent, Ana said, "Now, why would I ever do that?"

"Um… so, Kuro and I usally practice firebending at night, and would you two like to join us?" Akari said hastily, changing the subject.

Ana shrugged. "If you're as good at fighting as you are at dancing, then I'm in," she answered.

Zero looked down at the floor. "Um… I'm going to have to decline."

Akari turned her burning gaze on him. "Why?"

Zero bit his lip. "I'm not a firebender."

Akari's mouth opened, and she made as if to stand up, ceremoniously knocking over a fishbowl with her elbow.

Several things happened at once.

One: Akari dove for the bowl, but only succeeded in landing on her hip and scraping her elbow.

Two: Ana screamed.

Three: Zero, not thinking, dove for the bowl, bending the contents, (along with the fish) up out of the bowl before it was dashed to the floor.

In the next moment, the bowl was shattered into a million sparkling points of sharp glass. Silence followed.

"Oh," said Akari after about two minutes of silence. "Okay."

"Leave it to Akari to break the silence," Kuro muttered.

Ana smirked. "Okay, so you're not a firebender. You're a waterbender. You could practice with us anyway."

Zero looked up, hope suddenly blooming on his face. "You mean, you don't care?"

Akari gave him an amused look. "We're escaped convicts, I can somehow bend lightning like most people bend fire, am being hunted by the elite in the Fire Nation, and you're worried we'll shun you just because of what element you bend?" she shook her head, "Zero, you constantly amaze me."

Kuro ran a hand through his hair. "She has a point."

Zero relaxed, his hands still moving, keeping the fish afloat. "Well, now that we've got that settled, let's find somewhere to put these fish."

Ana glanced at them for a moment. "Minnows. Put them… there," she said, pointing at a large aquarium. "With other minnows. They won't eat each other."

Kuro smiled. "How did you learn that?"

"You'd be surprised."

Akari sighed. "Can someone push all the broken glass into a pile?"

"How are we supposed to do that?" said Kuro.

Akari raised an eyebrow. "I didn't plan that far ahead."

Zero smiled. "Got it." With a sweeping motion of his hands, he pulled some water out of a tank, froze it to slush, then swept it along the floor. Soon all the glass was in a neat little pile at Akari's feet.

"Well, you're handy," said Ana.

Akari smiled, then shot a stream of fire at the pile, turning it into a fully crystallized glass lump. She leaned over and pulled it from the floor before the bottom had fully cooled. It peeled away from the marble floor easily. The four watched in silence as the red slowly faded from the bottom.

"So," said Akari, "does anyone have a bag?"

That night, as the lights were fading, Tern and Kuro faced each other from across a darkened clearing.

Tern rushed forward, feinting to the right. Kuro blocked easily. With a smooth slip, Kuro clipped him on the shoulder with a hand and dodged behind him. With one solid knock, Tern was on the ground, his arms firmly held behind him.

"I win."

"We still have our seconds. Let them have a turn."

"I won fairly."

Tern called for the seconds.

Akari stepped out of the shadows, while another person came from behind a tree. Once he stepped into the moonlight, however, Akari wondered how he ever hid in a forest. He was huge. Humongous. Akari controlled her features, then settled into a stance. A strange cold swept over her, as it always did when she fought.

The big man laughed. "I'm not fighting this little thing, am I?"

Akari smirked slightly. "I'm afraid so."

The man laughed again. "Well, I'll be gentle. Wouldn't want to hurt the little girl."

"I'm quite sure you could, if it were ever possible to catch me," Akari answered, still with that impossibly cold voice.

The man narrowed his eyes and lunged for her. She stepped out of the way smoothly, flipping backwards to stand on his shoulders. She placed a hand on his head and used it to flip in front of him. "What was that?" she asked.

The man's eyes narrowed, and a whip of flame appeared in his hand. "Can you outrun fire, pixie?"

Akari shrugged. "Never tried."

The man grunted as the fire whipped out at her, curving and twisting. Akari received it quietly, spinning it around her in a cocoon of fire. Silently, she slipped out of the back of the cocoon and snuck up behind him, her two fingertips bristling with electricity. Not able to hold the flame any longer, she let the cocoon dissipate and brushed the man's temple with her fingertips as she somersaulted over his head. He collapsed like a bushel of flour.

Akari straightened and brushed off her hands, feeling the cold leave her. It was so strange, how that sensation came and went. It enabled her to fight without qualm, to ignore most verbal jabs. But it always dissipated when she was done fighting. Sometimes, however, she couldn't stop fighting until people were dead. Luckily she had Kuro.

She turned. "Shall we go?" she said to Kuro, jerking her head toward the trees. "And I have something to tell you…

"Zero WHAT?" Kuro yelled, once they were safe in his sister's house.

Akari sighed. "Zero asked me to the dance. As friends. Not as his girlfriend or anything."

Kuro looked remarkably like an angry tomato.

"I can date whoever I want, Kuro. You're not my father or anything."

Kuro blew, the tendons in his neck standing out. "You don't know anything about what guys think! I have the advantage of being one! You don't know what goes through their heads!"

"I happen to have a guy for a best friend. I've had enough creeps after me to know the good from the bad. I can go to the party with WHOEVER I WANT! He only asked me because his fangirls were being fangirly! So just shut it! You're not even related to me, KURO," she yelled right back, "This isn't some jerk we're talking about! This is ZERO. The guy who saved my life. We're not dating or anything! We're just going to a party together so Zero doesn't have to ask some giggly fangirl!"

Then, most surprisingly, Kuro calmed down. "True. Fine. It could be worse, I suppose," he finally said, with surprising calm. "But hear me. If he does anything… inappropriate, he will have written his own death warrant. There will be nowhere he can hide from me."

They didn't talk the rest of that evening.

But later that night, however, Akari stood outside Kuro's door, wrapped in her robe. Kuro opened the door, rubbing his eyes sleepily. "What is it, Akari," he asked in an annoyed, but fully awake voice. He looked down into her hand. In it was a knife… one that he recognized.

"Kuro, I've had an idea, though you're probably going to shoot it down immediately," Akari said, also fully awake.

"What is it, so that I can shoot it down," he said, beckoning her in. She sank down on a chair.

"Well, you know that we're not going to be able to stay here for long."

Kuro heaved a great sigh, looking out the window. "I know that. But where are we going to go?" he asked.

Akari smiled. "We both don't like the Fire Nation, right? Neither do Ana or Zero, I'm guessing."

Kuro nodded.

"Well… you know the legend of The Black Dragon? The one I used to dance to? Well, what if we put together a vigilante group. I mean, like, recruit kids from the school or something and terrorize the Fire Nation," she finished, looking up with hopeful eyes.

Kuro himmed and hawed for a while. "It's not a bad idea," he said, finally."

Akari goggled. "Who are you and WHAT have you done with Kuro?" she asked disbelievingly.

Kuro sighed. "It's a good idea. It's either that or hop from city to city, never doing any good. This, however… Some of the kids at school are not extremely regimented. They're used to more freedom than they have now. Some of them have never known it, but would embrace it if they could. Still others have a deeply ingrained sense of justice."

Akari stared at him in amazement. "When did you learn this?"

"I read people well."

"Great. Now I'm scared."

Kuro chuckled.

"I hate it when you do that."

It happened just like they expected… Well, somewhat.

"Great idea!" Zero enthused.

"That'll be easy," Ana said, rolling her eyes.

"What'll be easy?" asked Kuro.

"Introducing the others to freedom… and the injustice of the Fire Nation."

"And how do you suppose we go about this miracle?"

"Well, we could take them to Solo CheKets"

"You're insane," said Zero, after about a minute of silence.

Kuro shook his head. "No, she's not."

Akari looked at him, surprised. "Are you sure that somebody didn't mind-wipe you? Usually you veto all dangerous and insane plans before they're out of peoples lips."

"It's not crazy. It's actually a good idea. It'll tempt their more rebellious side, show them a bit of freedom. And then they could see what the Fire Nation really does."

Akari nodded.

"Okay, brilliant plan, but it has one flaw," Zero put in, slightly annoyed.

"And what is that, all-knowing Kamanci?" asked Kuro, a slight edge in his voice.

"How are we going to convince them to come, without sounding like treasonous traitors or absolute insane people waiting to be locked up?" he asked dryly.

Akari smirked. "Let me handle that, Zero."

Akari sat on the ground at Sarai's house, basking in the warming sunlight of her success.

"You are a genius," Zero finally stated.

"You know it," she said, smirking.

Akari stood. "They'll be here soon."

Over the school day, she'd assembled a small group of four people to go with them. One was a girl, twelve or thirteen, whose name was Angie. She seemed nice, almost as if she saw more things than most people. There were two other boys, Ellis and Bryem. They were both sixteen or seventeen, in Kuro's class. The two boys were both six-five, the strong, silent type. Finally, there was another girl, named Tayca. Tayca was bubbly, with a good sense of humor, but definite instincts.

How she'd done it, she wouldn't tell anyone, only to say vaguely that there had been an event, before they had come, that had shown them freedom, whatever that meant.

There was a knock, and Tayca strode in, followed by the quieter Angie. "Hallo!" said Tayca merrily.

Akari waved. "Hello Tayca, Angie."

Tayca rubbed her hands together. "So, where are we going?"

Kuro looked pained. "You mean, you didn't tell them where we're going?"

Akari shrugged. "I didn't know at the moment. I only knew possibly where we were going. So I just asked them if they wanted to go somewhere with us, and they agreed. I didn't break any laws as of yet."

Ana stifled a giggle.

At this moment, the two tall boys came in.

"Yo."

"Hey."

Akari waved again. "Yo. Hey."

There were simultaneous facepalms throughout the room.

Ellis sniggered slightly behind his hand. "So when are we going to do this thing?" he asked seriously, after choking back his laughter.

Kuro rolled his eyes. "Now would be ideal."

Akari walked up behind him and whacked him on the back of the head. "You don't need to show off, Kuro. No one cares how big your vocabulary is."

Ana and Angie nearly died laughing in the back of the room.

Zero rolled his eyes. He hated to be the pragmatic one, but… "Hey, people, we need to get going. I'm going to get it if I don't get home before eight tonight, and this might take all day."

Akari looked between Kuro and Zero with narrowed eyes. "Did you two switch personalities when I wasn't looking?" she asked suspiciously.

What Akari had really done, however, had dangled a tantalizing offer in front of the recruits' noses. She'd offered to teach them how to fight. By that time, the news of her's and Kuro's defeat of Tern and the big guy had become widely known at the school. She'd offered to help them with acrobatics and fighting skills… which is exactly what she would do. They would just have to come with her and her friends on one little trip, just to see what they had.

So all four of the recruits were tiptoeing, cloak-and-dagger style, along the forest floor.

Akari and Kuro were walking silently without seeming to try. Zero was doing an acceptable job, and Ana was gliding along the forest floor like she had been born knowing how to do it.

Finally, Bryem bucked up his courage enough to speak. "Where are we going?"

Akari glanced back. "A place."

Bryem nodded solemnly.

Ten seconds later, Akari, now somehow at the head of the group, stopped suddenly. "We're here," she said, then took a deep breath and pushed back the thick, thorny branches of a nearby fire-lizard bush. "Through here."

She ducked quickly through the opening, stepping on the ground of devastation. The rest of them followed behind her, all of them stunned.

There was stunned silence for a few moments.

"What is this place?" Angie whispered, her eyes wide and horrified.

Ana's eyes narrowed. "Welcome to Solo CheKets."

**A/N: AHHH!! It's TWENTY PAGES. OH MY GOSH!! Just noticed that, sorry. And if you read this, realize, I'm BEGGING. Please please please review. I don't care how horrible and boring you think this is. Just… please review!!**


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